Hypothermia
by EleaDancingOnAPin
Summary: Symptoms include shivering when she touches you, your mind freezing after just one thought of her, loss of coordination so you look like a spaz at all the wrong times, and difficulty speaking when she says your name. White Rose AU, some other pairings on the side.
1. Gates of Heaven or Hell

Just a note, I have gotten some complaints of Weiss being OOC. Here is my response.

I would disagree quite a lot with Weiss being OOC.  
Let me explain.  
In my AU, Ruby is an excellent student who got into a prestigious school by having a lot of talent. Weiss respects that. Remember how she approached Pyrrha in the show, because Pyrrha was a good fighter? It's something I think is overlooked a lot, but no less a part of her personality. She talks to people that she respects, and is actually somewhat nice to them. It's just that she respects Ruby a little sooner, that's all, whereas in many fanfics she sees her as annoying or immature at the start of it due to Ruby doing something stupid.  
In fact, she's meaner to Ruby than she is to Pyrrha. Weiss knows Pyrrha's reputation better, and also had something to gain, so she's as more interested in being all friendly and stuff. Ruby on the other hand is a bit more of an unknown, so she's cautiously making some moves to being friends, but is still a little hazy on the idea.  
Just my two cents - if you have evidence to the contrary, feel free to tell me I missed something, because I certainly may have.

* * *

At ten o'clock on a Monday morning, a girl stood in the bathroom of her apartment. Her name was Ruby, and she was eighteen years old.

It was her first day of college.

Ruby stared into the smudged bathroom mirror, and shrugged to adjust her backpack, a too-small polyester sack in red and black, with a broken strap she had sewn back herself and a polka dot patch where a pair of scissors had ripped a hole.

She looked down at her torn and tattered jeans, worn from years of use, trying to decide how she felt about being the same size she'd been for the past two years. On the one hand, it was pretty great, because she didn't need to waste any money on clothes and stuff.

On the other... those jeans made her look like a homeless person, which wasn't really what she had been going for. Her loose black cotton tank top didn't really help the image. At least it wasn't ripped. Yet. She hoped. Her toes curled and uncurled inside of her ragged red Puma sneakers as she evaluated the girl looking back at her from the dirty glass. She looked good enough, she supposed, and it wasn't like she had nicer clothes anyway.

Her teeth were brushed and she had showered just twenty minutes ago, and her messy black-and-red dyed hair was... sorta neat, at least.

She could do this.

Well, she could leave the bathroom at least.

Ruby turned away from the mirror, almost tripping on the discarded towel from her shower earlier, and hurried for the front door. Then stopped short again, overcome by nerves.

Well, she got out of the bathroom, but leaving the house might be an entirely different challenge...

Yang was waiting for her in the doorway. As usual, her sister looked awesome. She sported a stylishly slashed denim jacket, almost illegally short skirt, tight yellow tee, and a mess of brilliant blonde curls that were all arranged to messy, I-don't-give-a-fuck perfection.

Yang looked like some kind of biker goddess. And that just made Ruby feel worse. How could she even compare to her sister, let alone everyone else?

"Heya sis!" Yang called across the four foot distance. She never was much for volume control. "Ready to hit the road?" She hooked a thumb at the black and yellow bike parked outside.

Ruby laughed, a little nervously. "Ehe. Yeah. Sure! Let's go! College, woo!" She pumped a fist in the air. It wavered there for a second, and fell back down.

Yes, Ruby Rose was feeling like quite the ray of sunshine. Why wouldn't she? After all, going to a new school away from literally everyone she had known for the past four years, definitely pretty high on her list of 'fun things I want to do with my life.'

Yang sighed, put her hands on her hips, and gave her sister a knowing look. "Aww, is somebody nervous?" Yang cooed, her voice in that tone that meant cheek-pinching, or worse yet, hugs, might be incoming.

"Ah! No! Of course not!" Ruby squeaked. "Nope, not me. I'm totally cool. As a... uh..." Okay, it's definitely some kind of vegetable... "Cucumber?"

She felt like such a little kid. She was such a little kid. What was she even going to do, off in college? She wasn't ready for this!

Yang sighed again and smiled gently at her little sister as worried expressions clouded her face. Then she firmly seized one of Ruby's ears and started pulling her out the door. It was cute and all, but neither of them had time to stand around.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Ruby whimpered, startled and and in more than a little pain.

"C'mon Rubes. Everyone needs a little push now and then." Yang told her.

"This isn't a little push, this is my ear!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later Yang's motorcycle purred to a halt outside the curling wrought iron gates of Vale Academy. Ruby looked up, and gulped. She hadn't even stepped off her sister's bike yet, and she was already intimidated. Even the freaking gates looked amazing. They were twisting, and pure black, shaped into rose vines, and absolutely gorgeous.

"Welp, see ya sis." Yang said, somehow managing to sprawl on the handlebars of her motorcycle. She waited a second. "You can get off any time now..."

Ruby bit her lip, then gingerly removed her arms from Yang's waist, and stepped off the bike. Her red shoes were on college asphalt. She was here. She could totally do this. "Yeah. See you."

Yang gave her one last encouraging smile and sped off, leaving her sister alone.

Ruby looked up at the gates, bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet. Beacon Academy. The preppiest of preppy schools. The best funded too. People who went here were rich, and when they graduated they got rich person jobs, whatever those were. Like doctor, or lawyer. Their parents were rich, and they inherited fortunes. This place oozed money on a level Ruby couldn't even understand. And somehow, here she was, standing awkwardly at the gates and trying to work up the courage to step in. Someone up in the sky must really, really like her. Or really hate her...

Thinking of the sky, Ruby looked up. It was a clear, beautiful day, warm sunlight beating down on the ground and not a cloud in sight. That had to be a good omen, right?

Ruby tried to take deep breaths, to calm down. She couldn't even work up her courage enough to get through the gate. It was all just too much...

Suddenly, someone pushed past her as she shifted from foot to foot, almost knocking her face first onto the pavement. It was a guy in a black suit. A really gorgeous guy in a black suit, she noticed, his coppery red hair and clean shaven jaw line like something straight out of a fashion magazine, or a movie poster. He filled the broad shoulders and thick sleeves of the suit well, like it was all muscle, not fat, and he towered over her by a good eight inches. He had a thick brow that shadowed his deep blue eyes so that they looked almost purple, or black.

Bottom line, he was really, really hot.

His lips curled into a sneer and he was gone, through the gates without a second glance. He just dismissed her completely.

Something twisted and coiled in the pit of her stomach, and she swallowed hard. Well, that made her want to run away and never look back... Like she didn't already...

Instead, she steeled herself, and stepped in. When she saw the actual campus, her earlier annoyance just disappeared. Ruby walked slowly, craning her head and looking around with wide eyes, trying to see every part of the school at once.

The buildings looked as amazing as the gate. Even more amazing, actually. They were like pieces of some gothic castle, made up of huge asymmetrical chunks of rock ranging from gray to tan in color, set in pale cement. Dark glass windows with high arches and intricate designs added a mysterious feel. Spires, minarets, and towers decorated every available edge. This place wouldn't have felt out of place in the Middle Ages, or an old fashioned vampire novel, by Stoker, not Meyer.

It took Ruby's breath away. She couldn't even describe this place if she wanted to.

And the students! She couldn't see that many, maybe twenty or so wandering the green grass lawn. They were all dressed perfectly, in dresses, skirts, suits... they seemed like they were heading for a cocktail party or some other rich person thing, not school. Ruby couldn't spy a pair of jeans, or a hoodie, or even a t-shirt on a single one of them.

She realized she had no idea where she was going. Unfortunately, she didn't spy anywhere to set her backpack down while she tried to find the map they had sent her in the mail. She knew it was in there... and she really should have just stuck it in her pocket... But, as usual, she didn't really think things through.

Maybe she shouldn't have skipped the campus tour...

Ruby sighed, shifted her shoulders, and dropped the bag to the ground. It wasn't like the ratty old thing could really get any dirtier, after all. She squatted down next to it on the perfectly clipped grass carpet, wondering where her map was and how many times a day they must mow this place. There wasn't a blade out of place. She almost felt bad for putting her bag on it, it was probably messing it up somehow.

She was so lost in thought she didn't hear someone approach behind her. "Well, if it isn't a pig girl." Came a cultured, aristocratic voice absolutely dripping with loathing, just over her shoulder. "Careful, if you bend over like that, you might get mud on those pretty clothes. We couldn't have that, could we?"

Ruby shot a look over her shoulder. It was another absolutely gorgeous guy, with carefully brushed dull gold hair and an immaculate dark grey suit. He was just as built and almost as tall as the last one, cute in a preppy kind of way. And once again, a huge jerk. Yang would have a great comeback... But when Ruby tried to think of what her sister might say, she failed, and couldn't say anything at all. It was a really dumb insult, she knew. Juvenile. It shouldn't even bother her, she didn't know him and and she knew shouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing his words stung.

That didn't make it hurt any less. Sticks and stones may break may break my bones, but words will never hurt me...

That was such crap.

The first time anyone bothered to talk to her at this stupid school and they just had to say something like that...

Her eyes pricked with tears and she looked away, pretending to go through her backpack again. The warm, beautiful sun suddenly seemed too hot, and her hands shook a little as she went through the motions of searching. So far, all the people she'd met were just... casually cruel. Ruby, usually such an optimist, found herself doubting if anyone in this entire place had a decent bone in their body.

Whoever-it-was chuckled, and continued on his way, probably delighted to have ruined someone's day.

Ruby realized she had stopped moving, shook herself, and continued to rummage around. She finally found her map crumpled into a small side pocket, dug it out, and glared at it. Stupid thing. She breathed deeply, trying to calm down, and looked it over carefully.

...

Okay. She knew where she was going. It was a start.

Ruby looked up at the pretty, pretty campus and pretty, pretty people. All of whom probably hated her. Bunch of jerks. Sighing, she put her backpack back on, and started trudging for her first class, feet dragging on the wet, dewy grass.

It was going to be a really long day...

Ruby slunk into class a minute before the bell. Everyone stared at her as she hurried her way to a seat all the way in the back of the curved lecture hall, away from everyone, her head down. They just watched her with mocking eyes, whispering comments to eachother as she huddled in her seat and hoped that somehow if she squeezed herself up small enough nobody would see her. Maybe she could get so small that she would just disappear entirely.

Unfortunately, she had no such luck.

The teacher started the lesson, day one of Engineering 101. Ruby tried hard to pay attention, her pencil scribbling furiously as she took notes. She was interested in the class, she really was. She enjoyed building things, creating things, and this class seemed like a good way to experiment with that passion. The teacher, a fat balding man named Port, was certainly... involved in what he was doing. She could do this. Totally. Who cared what anyone else thought of her.

Someone snickered, and she just knew it was aimed at her.

Ruby gave up, and put her head on the desk, and blew out a heavy breath of air. It was going to be a really long day...

* * *

Somehow, Ruby made it through the class, and Intro to Design after that. She rushed outside of the classroom, eager to get away, thinking about where she might eat, and persistently avoiding thinking about anything else. Checking her map again, she traced one slim finger along it, biting her lip in concentration.

"Let's see... okay most of this stuff is just past the library..." She mumbled to herself. Unfortunately, none of the names were places she recognized. Starbucks? Yeah, she'd been there. Wendy's? Burger King? McDonalds? Yup, yup, and yup. But never in her life had she been to somewhere with a name like "The Taste of Italy: Delicatessen and Bakery." It sounded fancy. And pricy. Ruby started walking towards it anyway, picking her way along the smooth grey sidewalk and dodging other students. Past the library was where the food was, and her stomach was loudly demanding some munchies. And after all, it was just lunch, and even in this place, food was food. At least she hoped it was. Though really, how bad could it be?

* * *

Ruby found that the answer was very, when she finally got to the place. She swallowed hard as she looked up at the wall-mounted menu, decorated in mouth watering pictures of various delicacies. Twenty dollars for a sandwich? Five for a soda? Ruby turned and fled to check the other places. There had to be something she could afford around here.

* * *

For what felt like the millionth time that day, Ruby was out of luck. The closest she could get to affordable was a place named Guglhupf, a two story restaurant with tasteful black furniture, marble table tops, and decorative paper lanterns. She didn't know if the name was just gibberish or another language, but they had a soup that was within her ten dollar budget, so here she was. Granted, it was billed as an appetizer, so it probably wasn't going to be enough. Still, Ruby's growling stomach wouldn't really let her say no.

"Uh, the Minestrone appetizer, please?" Ruby squeaked at the cashier, a short blonde woman with too much makeup and too little patience. She shifted unsteadily from foot to foot. 'Please... don't say anything just let me get something to eat and leave.' She silently begged.

"$10.93." The cashier said, punching in the total. "Are you paying with your card or with cash?" She spoke quickly, with a waspish, disgruntled tone in her voice.

"Card?" Ruby repeated. They had given her an ID card... Was that what she meant?

"Your ID card. You're a financial aid student, aren't you? A financial aid card entitles you to three meals a day under thirty dollars." Ruby didn't exactly like the way she said 'financial aid.' Or the way she just assumed Ruby didn't have any money. Granted, she wasn't wrong but...

"Each?" Ruby asked. Well, there wasn't any reason to pass up food. Her mood was bad enough that if just one more person laughed at her, she might just go hide in the bathroom and cry, or scream at them, but her stomach was tying itself in knots and growling like a wild animal, so it came first, at least for now. And three thirty dollar meals a day was nothing to laugh at.

"Yes." The woman bit off the word, glaring like Ruby had personally insulted her. "Now, are you done holding up the line?"

"...guess so." Ruby mumbled. She got ninety dollars worth of food a day! That totally made up for everything! Yeah. Woo... "Umm, could I also get a small cider and a bratwurst then?" She asked quietly, passing over her ID card. The woman swiped it, and passed it back, along with a little piece of laminated plastic with the number 13 on both sides.

"Leave that on your table where the waiters can see it." She told Ruby, like she was talking to a child.

Ruby grabbed the two cards, offered a shaky smile, and fled for the upper floor.

Literally everyone hated her.

This was going to be a long day...

When she got upstairs, Ruby hesitantly claimed a two chair table on the second floor, sliding the chair out gingerly. It was probably worth as much as any three pieces of furniture back at Yang's apartment, so she felt like she had to be careful. She set her bag on the opposite chair and settled down to wait, absently chewing her lip as she looked at the stairs, waiting.

* * *

Ten minutes later, she was still sitting there, foodless. Yang had told her once that the classier a place was, the longer you had to wait for food.

Well, Guglhupf must be pretty classy, because this was getting ridiculous. Ruby was half tempted to tackle a waiter and just take someone else's food. Or maybe the waiter was being slow because the cashier told him to... She probably hated Ruby enough to do that, the girl thought bitterly.

Ruby decided to shoot another hopeful look at the stairs, and suddenly forgot about her meal entirely.

Ascending the stairs, one hand delicately resting on the rail, was the most drop dead gorgeous girl she had ever seen.

Her hair, done in a perfectly brushed ponytail held back by a black spiky tiara, was a pure snowy white, her perfect little sun dress the same color, with only a few pale blue accents. Her tall, tall heels clicked on the stairs, and Ruby gaped at how high they were. Yang would probably have called them stripper heels, but this girl made them look good. Really good. Ruby wet her dry lips and wondered where her vocabulary had gone, why she couldn't think of any word other than 'good' to describe her.

Trailing after the pale girl was a collection of other students, like moths to a flame. The pale girl sat down and pulled a small silver laptop from her icy blue handbag, and started typing. The other students crowded around, vying for her attention, spilling onto nearby tables but none of them quite daring to sit next to her. It was like the girl had a sign around her neck, 'Look but don't touch,' and nobody dared disobey.

Ruby caught the name 'Weiss' more than once, as she watched the girl ignore her admirers. That must be her name. Ruby rolled it around on her tongue, saying it softly to herself. Weiss. It was a beautiful name. She wondered what her last name was, her middle name. Did she have any nicknames? Did she...

Ruby didn't notice until five minutes later that her food was here.

She scarfed down her meal and got out of the restaurant as fast as she could, not wanting to be disappointed again, rejected again by someone she didn't even know. Ruby had one more class, and then she was through. She could go home, and get away from this place. One more class.

She hoped she never saw the pale girl again.

Somehow, she couldn't bear to be disappointed by her, too.

* * *

Ruby slipped through the door of Economics 101 early. Her lunch hour wasn't really over, but she wasn't in the mood to hang around with the other students. At least this way she could be alone. Even the professor wasn't here yet.

Ruby got all of five minutes alone, sitting in the back of the room and absently sketching, before the door clicked open and someone else came in. Ruby's eyes flicked up to see who, and she stared.

It was her.

The girl from before.

And she was coming right for Ruby, her heels making a muffled tapping sound as she climbed the carpeted stairs to the last row where Ruby sat frozen.

Hyperventilating sounded pretty good right now, but Ruby barely fought down the urge, her breath hitching briefly.

She suddenly understood why deer froze in car's headlights.

At this close distance, Ruby noticed a long scar running down the girl's left eye, pale and raised just a hair off of her otherwise flawless skin. She wondered how she got it, and imagined, somehow, that it would be better not to ask. That it was something that should stay a mystery.

She stopped right by where Ruby was sitting.

"You're here early too?" The girl asked, talking to Ruby casually, unaware of the bundle of nerves the other girl was wrestling with. She had a high, musical voice, like a singer. And she wasn't even three feet away.

"Yeah." Ruby rasped, cleared her throat, and tried again. "Yes, I am."

Her eyes were the palest blue Ruby had ever seen. She could drown in those eyes... Dive in and never want to come up for air...

"Well, I can understand wanting to get away from the rest of the student body." She said, annoyance coloring her tone. She spoke formally, but in a pleasant way. It made her seem interesting somehow, and it was natural rather than stiff or stuck up. "They're rather dull, and too nosy for their own good."

"Ehe. Yeah. I don't really like anyone here..." Ruby paused, then realized she was talking to someone she did actually like. Very much. At least so far. "Uh! Not you of course! Just, um, other people..." In her mind, Ruby repeated the girl's name like a prayer. Weiss. Weiss.

Weiss looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she gestured down, and asked "Do you mind?"

It took Ruby a second to realize she was asking about the empty seat next to her.

"Oh! No, of course not. You can do whatever you want! It's a free country, right? Well... except for Faunus..." Ruby trailed off, flushing red.

The other girl set her bag down, gently lowered herself into the seat, and then looked curiously at Ruby's sketch pad. Then she looked up at Ruby with her pale blue eyes, her expression questioning.

Ruby looked down, then turned an even brighter shade of scarlet. It was, unmistakably, a sketch of Weiss climbing the stairs back at the restaurant. She hadn't even really realized she had been drawing it, or she might have hid it. Or never started in the first place. "I'm so sorry!" Ruby squeaked.

"No, it's fine." Weiss replied, not sounding bothered in the slightest. "I was actually going to ask if I could have it when you finish. It's quite good. Are you an art major?"

"I'm thinking of double majoring... Engineering and art." Ruby mumbled in reply.

"Then if you'll pardon me asking, why are you in an economics class?"

Ruby couldn't decide whether to squeal in joy or run out of the lecture hall. Weiss seemed to actually care what she had to say. And she thought she was a good artist!

But on the other hand, this was way too close. Ruby didn't know if her heart would survive a full conversation, it was racing so fast, and she definitely wouldn't get through one without looking like a complete idiot. Something about the pale girl made her brain dribble out her ears, and tied her tongue in knots.

"I was just sort of interested. I mean, I have a little bit of time before I needa decide, why not try a few things out? I might find something I really like, you know?" Ruby replied. She noticed that her stammer was fading, she was getting more relaxed. The wooden lecture hall bench didn't feel quite so uncomfortable any more.

She could do this.

"Well, that's a good attitude." Weiss said, one eyebrow raised like she found something interesting, though Ruby couldn't tell what. "I'm majoring in business myself. To take over my father's company."

"Oh. What company does your dad own?" Ruby asked curiously.

"The Schnee Corporation. That is my last name, Schnee. Oh, I just realized, we haven't really been introduced. My name is Weiss Schnee, and you are?"

And suddenly, it was like the floor dropped out of the room, and she was falling. Like all the air just disappeared, and she couldn't breathe.

'Oh my god oh my god oh my god...'

Ruby was sitting next to the heir to the single wealthiest company in the world. The Schnee Corporation had their hands in everything Ruby could name. They did anything and everything and had... well, whatever they wanted. And she was sitting next to the heir to the whole company.

She didn't even know people used words like 'heir' anymore.

She didn't know how Weiss could get any more perfect.

"Ruby." She finally managed to say, after what felt like hours. "Ruby Rose." Her throat was so dry...

Weiss smiled. "It's nice to meet you Ruby."

Ruby's heart did a jig, and she didn't know how she kept from fainting.

* * *

Ruby managed to get through a conversation with Weiss for the whole twenty minutes before class started. Then she threw herself into the work, trying to avoid any more embarrassment. Fortunately, Weiss seemed just as absorbed in the lesson, and didn't try to keep talking. Small favors...

For once, Ruby didn't even notice the funny looks the other students gave her, or the gossip. She was too absorbed, either in her work, or in sneaking glances at Weiss, praying the other girl didn't notice. Ruby couldn't help the looks. The other girl was just... magnetic. She couldn't ignore Weiss anymore than she could ignore gravity.

After class, they left together, in a comfortable silence. Weiss walked with Ruby to the gates, attracting more attention along the way, but Ruby was still too distracted by the girl at her side to notice. She admired the other girl's stride. It was smooth, and graceful, like she was skating on ice rather than walking on pavement.

Ruby tried to think of something to say, something, anything, that would make her seem smart and funny and interesting. She would have even settled for just one of those. But nothing came to mind, so she just bit her lip, smiling unsteadily, and walked.

As they left the gates, Ruby craned her head around, trying to spot her sister. After a couple seconds she found Yang, waiting on her motorcycle, along with a host of other cars. Ruby waved to her and started to leave, but Weiss stopped her with a light touch on the shoulder. Ruby practically jerked back to face her as the other girl offered her a slip of paper.

"It's my cell phone number." Weiss explained. "In case you want to talk later. I'll be busy until nine, but if you want to talk after that I'm free." She didn't say what she wanted, Ruby noticed. Maybe she just wasn't that kind of person. Or maybe she hoped Ruby wasn't going to call.

Ruby hesitantly took the paper, smiled, and quickly headed for Yang. She didn't even say thank you.

"Who's the hottie?" Her sister demanded with a wry grin as Ruby climbed onto the bike.

"Please, Yang, just drive." Ruby begged, holding on tight.

Yang laughed and the motorcycle roared, sending both of them speeding away from Beacon. Ruby held her sister tight as they rolled through the sun dappled afternoon streets, enjoying the fruity smell of her sister's perfume and the wind in her and the warmth of another body close to hers.

As they turned onto another street, almost out of sight of Beacon, Ruby looked over her shoulder and realized that for the first time that day, she wasn't so scared of coming back tomorrow. Then the bike whipped around the corner and the school was gone.

* * *

Their early dinner felt surprisingly tasteless compared to the delectable meal Ruby had eaten at Guglhupf. Compared to crispy wurst, fresh squeezed cider, and flavorful soup, instant mac-n-cheese with a side of hamburger and a glass of milk was pretty bland. Even the table couldn't compare, just a simple scratched-wood affair that would have looked like trash compared to the beautiful tables back at the restaurant. It pretty much did anyway.

Ruby was abruptly very worried that she was becoming stuck up, and it made her scowl and jab her fork into a single piece of macaroni, a little harder than she needed to.

She wasn't like those rich jerks, puffed up on their own importance, and wouldn't ever be.

Well... She might not mind being a little more like Weiss.

Ruby sighed. Everything seemed to come back to that girl... it was like having a mosquito in your room, she decided. It buzzed and buzzed around and never let you quite forget it was there.

Not that she would ever compare Weiss to a mosquito!

She picked absently at her meal, squirming under Yang's gaze. Her sister had a pretty good knowing look, even when her cheeks were puffed up like a hamster from the huge bites she was taking. Yang finished her food before Ruby had even really started, leaned back, put her hands behind her head and asked "So, how was college?"

"I, uh, fine?" Ruby stammered. She stuck a bite in her mouth and chewed slowly, trying to avoid the Yang-ish Inquisition.

That was a terrible pun, even in her head. A pun so bad, even Yang wouldn't make it. Well, actually, she might, be even so, Ruby shouldn't be dropping to that level.

Yang waited until she had finished, then pounced again. "Well, you know, I saw that cute girl give you her number, so it seems like it went pretty damn good to me. And hey, since you don't swing that way, if you'd just tell me what it is..." Yang trailed off with a suggestive leer.

"Aha. Yeah. That's me, straight as an arrow!" Ruby chirped, a touch too quickly to seem normal. "And no, I just met Weiss. I don't want you hitting on her, she'd hate that." Would she hate that? Did Weiss... 'swing that way?' Ruby felt like she would very much like to find out.

Not that Yang ever needed to know that.

And then there was her metaphor. Arrows didn't actually fly straight, they wiggled in midair, Ruby thought as she leaned her chin on her hand and poked at some macaroni with her fork. Maybe it wasn't a very good example. Or maybe it was a little too good... She thought of Weiss, the way she talked, the way she moved, the way her shoulder had bumped her once when they walked, and her heart skipped a beat, then made up for it in spades, racing wildly. Ruby quickly gulped some milk and stopped thinking about it.

"Well, do you have any other friends?" Yang drawled, still smirking like the Cheshire Cat. Ruby desperately wished her sister would pull the same disappearing act and leave her alone...

"No, the place is kinda full of stuck up rich kids." Ruby mumbled. "I couldn't even get food without someone yelling at me..." She sighed heavily, slumping in her chair.

"Ah, c'mon Rubes! You had a ton of friends last year. Like, Jaune, and Ren, and Nora, and Pyrrha... Are you really telling me you can't meet anyone? You're great with people!" Her sister was still acting bright and sunny, in sharp contrast to Ruby's gloomy mood.

Ruby decided she had finally had enough. "No, that's the problem, I have nothing in common with them! I just feel so... so worthless Yang! They dress better, they look better, they just act so... superior, or something! I'm just me! And..." Ruby trailed off, something knotting in her throat and the pit of her stomach. Her unspoken words hung in the air between them, the proverbial skeleton in the closet. 'And that's not good enough.'

Yang's smirk died at the sound of her sister's voice. "Is it really that bad?" She asked quietly.

"...uh huh."

"So, want to give me a hit list?" Yang offered, cracking her knuckles and making one of her trademark puns. Ruby was too tired to even groan at how bad it was.

"No... It's fine. Besides, they'd sue you for everything we have." Ruby grumbled, spinning her hamburger on her palm.

"Well... 'least you have Weiss, right?" Yang offered. "So they can't be all bad."

"Haha, yeah." Ruby laughed bitterly, like nothing was actually funny. "She's like, super rich Yang! Do you really think she's gonna talk to me for more than, like, a week? She probably just feels sorry for me..."

"Geez Rubes, really? She gave you her phone number. That counts for something." Yang pointed out. "And don't be so moody, it isn't like you."

Ruby thought about the slip of paper in her back pocket. "I guess she did."

"Well, you should give this a shot. Who knows, she might actually be a cool person."

Ruby smiled a little. Maybe things weren't quite as bad as she thought. "Thanks Yang." She murmured. The tension in her body eased somewhat.

"Hey, what are big sisters for?" Her sister smiled softly. "Go do your homework little sis. I got something to tell you later."

"Ugh." Ruby grumbled. "Fine." Ruby cleared her place, scraping her cold macaroni and most of a hamburger into the trash, and dumping the dirty dishes into the already overflowing sink with a slight clatter. Then she headed to her room.

Homework... Ruby almost jumped for joy. She decided to change into pajama bottoms before doing anything. They were fuzzy and loveable and always made her feel better. And she definitely needed a little fuzzy love today.

* * *

Three hours later at around eight o'clock, Ruby came out of her room and looked around for Yang. Her sister had said she wanted to talk to her... Hopefully it was good news. Ruby didn't think she could take any more bad. She padded through the house in fuzzy pink pajama pants and her sock feet, making a beeline for Yang's room. The heavy metal blasting out from Yang's cheap speakers on the other side of the door gave her a teeny tiny hint that Yang might be in there.

Ruby didn't even bother knocking, she just pushed inside. And froze.

Her sisters bed was occupied by a little more than the one it usually contained. Yang and a dark haired girl were... making out. On it. Really... athletically.

It figured...

Ruby slammed the door and headed back for her room, really eager to get back to her work all of a sudden. Sure, she was happy her sister was dating someone and all, but she really didn't need to see that. Unfortunately, with Yang, she couldn't usually help but see, and did, way more often than she liked... Her sister didn't just didn't get why most people thought public displays of affection were so awkward.

Ruby wished for brain soap. Anything to scrub that image out.

A few moments later her sister came in to find Ruby with her nose in a textbook, pretending to read.

"Shit, I'm sorry about that..." Yang apologized sheepishly, rubbing her wild blonde hair. "I thought you'd be longer..."

Ruby rolled her eyes and glared. "Three hours Yang! I was working for three hours!"

"I was distracted!" Her sister protested. "How the hell was I supposed to know!"

"By looking at a clock!"

"But I was looking at boobs!"

"Yaaang!" Ruby wailed. "Don't do that in the house! Or at least do it when I'm not here! And definitely don't tell me about it! Ugh!"

"Oh, we kept our shirts on." Yang grumbled. "And if it makes you feel better, she's as pissed at me as you are."

Ruby's eyes widened, and her eyebrows arched. "You mean, she isn't a total..."

Yang narrowed her eyes at the implication, and Ruby cleared her throat.

"Aha. Okay. Um, so... Do I get to meet her?"

"Yes. Hi." Came a soft voice from behind Yang. "Oh, move out of the way, Yang. I can't see."

Yang stepped aside and Ruby and the dark haired girl locked eyes. She was tall, not as tall as Yang though, and dressed in dress pants, lace up boots, a white button up shirt, and a dark vest. A little black bow perched atop her silky black hair. The girl gave Ruby a little wave.

"I'm Blake... And... I'm really sorry about that..." The other girl clutched her arm awkwardly as she stood in the doorway, fidgeting like she was unsure whether or not to come in.

Ruby laughed it off. "Oh, Yang does that kinda stuff all the time."

Blake fixed Yang with a Look, capital L. "Does she now. I hope she hasn't in the past... oh, week, at least."

Yang looked a little twitchy, which was quite a sight to see. "No! And, uh, I'll be in the kitchen! Making... tea. Everyone likes tea!" She bolted, and Blake smirked.

"Figured." She said, a warm, pleased, tone in her voice. The expression 'like the cat that got the cream' sprang to mind.

Ruby giggled at her sister's flight from the room. "Oh man. She almost never does that. It isn't like her to get so embarrassed."

Blake arched an eyebrow. "Really? I thought she did that all the time. She certainly does with me."

Ruby couldn't stop laughing. "Really?" She looked at Blake with new eyes, her respect for the girl growing by the second. Yang seemed really... Different around her. Good different. "You really aren't like the other girls she's dated, aren't you?" Her sister actually seemed to care what this girl thought, enough to be freaked out by even a joking question about whether she might be a cheating. It was certainly a change from the usual, one night stands that never made it past the third or fourth 'date.'

Blake's face quirked in a grin, and she sat next to Ruby on her bed. "I'd like to think so. Mind telling me more about these other girls?"

Anything to get her sister in trouble! If Ruby was just a little more evil, she might have snickered. "Well, like the last one, oh man she dressed like a..." Ruby began.

At just that moment, Yang had returned with tea. She stood in the doorway, a smile that was a little too wide to be normal fixed awkwardly on her face as she heard her little sister telling Blake all about some of her previous girlfriends. Working up her courage, Yang darted in, dropping two cups of tea on Ruby's desk. "Okayhere'syourteabye!" Then she fled for her life, feeling the burning gaze of the other two on her back the whole way. She was never going to live this down... ever.

Back in Ruby's room, Ruby and Blake looked at each other, then back at the empty hallway, and dissolved into giggles.

"I might want to go reassure her." Blake said, when they had calmed down.

"Not yet though, right?" Ruby asked. Not for the first time in her life, she wanted to let her sister squirm a little. After all, Yang did it to her often enough...

"Of course not. So, you were saying?"

* * *

Around nine, Blake went to check on Yang, leaving Ruby alone, sprawled on the bottom of her bunk bed. She really should get rid of the thing, it was too big for the room and really just too young for her. But she kept it anyways. It was the bed she used to share with Yang, back when they were kids. Well, when Yang was still a kid. If Ruby half closed her eyes, she could almost see her sister hanging her head off the top bunk to talk to her, messy curls almost touching the floor as she gave Ruby a lopsided, upside down grin...

Those were the days...

Ruby sighed, and glanced over at her jeans, lying in a pile on the floor. One leg was inside out from taking them off. She really should put them away...

Ruby suddenly remembered the piece of paper in the back pocket. It was nine. She should probably call Weiss. Ruby bit her lip, hesitant.

Did she want to call Weiss?

Then she shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Of course she wanted to. Weiss was the only person in all of Beacon who hadn't been a complete jerk to her.

Ruby shook her head, disappointed and more than a little annoyed with herself.

She jumped off the bed, landed on the floor with a thump, and padded over to her jeans. She lifted them up, and rooted around in the pockets, bringing them up to her face so she could see inside.

That proved to be a mistake. When had she last washed these? Ruby wrinkled her nose in disgust, finally found the bit of paper, and tossed the smelly pants in the laundry basket next to her door. They landed sort of half in, half out, and Ruby figured that was probably good enough.

She tumbled back down on her bed, lying on her back and staring at the number in one hand and the phone in the other.

Maybe she could just text her. She didn't need to call, right? Weiss would be fine with a text.

Even better, in a text she might not sound like a complete dork. Texts couldn't stutter, or blush, or fidget awkwardly in their seats... Yes, text was definitely a much better idea.

Ruby punched in the number, adding Weiss as a contact. Then she pulled up her messages, bit her lip, and frowned.

What was she even going to say?

Hi, how are you, why are you so fabulous and amazing and...

Okay, calm down.

Ruby's lip suddenly stung, and she realized she had chewed a hole in it. A little bit of warm blood trickled in her mouth. She gingerly prodded the wound with her tongue, her mind still whirring, trying to figure out something to type.

Her fingers, almost of their own free will, tapped out two letters.

H. I. 'Hi.'

Ruby hit send before she knew what she was doing, then immediately regretted it.

'Hi?' Really, that was the best she could do? The phone slipped out of her hand and thumped onto the mattress, and Ruby grabbed a fistful of her fuzzy black blanket and pulled it over her head, trying to hide from... something. She was so stupid... The entire point of texting had been to not seem like an idiot, and she still couldn't even say one word without looking like a complete spaz.

Next to her, the phone buzzed, and Ruby scrambled to pick it back up.

'Hello to you too. You know, I was expecting you to call.'

Ruby could almost see Weiss's frown. Well, great, she was already mad at her. Maybe texting wasn't the best idea...

'Well, is this okay?' Ruby tapped out. 'My sister is being loud, so...' It wasn't really a lie. Ruby could still hear the music pretty clearly even though she was three rooms away. And she got the sense metal wasn't Weiss's thing.

'I would have preferred to talk. Texting has always seemed rather impersonal to me.' Ruby winced at that. 'But I suppose it's fine for now.'

"Oh man..." Ruby mumbled, then went back to typing, trying to seem calm in her messages if nothing else. 'Great! So...' Ruby fumbled for something to say.

'How do you like Beacon?' Weiss asked suddenly.

'Not very much.' Ruby admitted. 'Everyone there is so...' She hesitated for a moment, looking for the right word. 'Stuck up, I guess.'

'Really?' Weiss asked. 'I have a completely different issue with them.' There was a pause.

Ruby wondered if she had offended Weiss. The other girl wasn't saying anything... And she had just basically insulted everyone she knew...

She was such an idiot. Ruby closed her eyes. And she was friendless again... Absently, she noticed Yang's music was gone. It made her notice the rain outside, pounding down upon the roof of the house and splattering into the window on the far wall.

All of sudden, her phone beeped again, interrupting the deep, steady patter of the raindrops. Ruby's eyes flicked open and she sighed in relief. Weiss had just been typing. As she read the message, Ruby scolded herself. She shouldn't panic like that!

'They're lazy, and for the most part, rather useless.' The message read. 'You remember how the tuition is over a hundred thousand lien per year? Well, the secret is, if you agree to pay the full tuition, they guarantee you a spot. I believe you and I might be the only ones who got in on our own merits. The rest just bought a place.'

Ruby's eyes widened, her previous worry forgotten. She hadn't known that little secret. She'd been very, very lucky to get the huge scholarship she got, and it was the only reason she could even attend. 'Really? You didn't pay to get in?'

'Of course not! I'm insulted you would think so!'

'Ack! Sorry! Sorry! I just... you're super rich and all...'

'Yes, but unlike many of my peers I haven't let that make me lazy.'

'Well, I'm sorry, okay!' Ruby paused for a moment, struck by a sudden, burning question. 'Hey.' She wrote, fingers dancing over the touchscreen. 'I have a question.'

'Yes?'

'Why did you talk to me? In the classroom, I mean?'

'You interested me.' Weiss replied, and Ruby didn't notice she was grinning until she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the screen of her phone. 'After all, you're the only other student other than myself who got in fairly. I respect that, so when I saw your name on the class list, I decided to keep an eye out for you.'

'You were looking for me?' Ruby couldn't even keep her shock out of her message. She was half tempted to pinch herself. After all, this had to be a dream.

'You were also interesting for another reason.' Definitely dreaming.

Ruby waited with baited breath, fingers frozen, stubbornly avoiding pinching herself. Then she would probably wake up, and if she was dreaming, she didn't want to find out. She wondered what Weiss would say. Did she think Ruby looked... different from the rest of the students? Was it her art?

Ruby's mind went back to what she had thought about earlier, with Yang.

Was it because Weiss 'swung that way?'

'I noticed you staring in the restaurant. But you didn't try and bother me. Honestly, I appreciated that. It's very rare for someone to be interested in me, for me, not for my father's company. And it's even rarer for them to politely wait.'

And Ruby grinned like an idiot for the second time this evening. Weiss actually liked her! And noticed her! And...

And her phone's battery died.

"Oh no!" Ruby groaned, rolling of her bed and darting around the room, looking desperately for the charger. Stupid thing had to be around here somewhere! "It just had to run out right then! Gah!"

Twenty minutes later, she still hadn't found it, even though she checked every room in the apartment. The only interesting things she'd found were a huge dust bunny under the couch and a note stuck to the refrigerator door. It was from Yang, saying she was gonna stay the night at Blake's. Ruby was especially cranky about that second one. She hadn't even said goodbye!

And she still didn't know where the charger was...

Ruby shambled back into her room and collapsed on the bed. It was ten, and she felt like she had run a marathon. Drained like her phone's battery. She managed to tuck herself in about halfway, the fuzzy black blanket reaching up to her belly button, before she stopped trying.

Ruby drifted off pretty quickly, only one last thought slipping through her mind before she was asleep.

Weiss was going to be so mad...

Somewhere outside the window, thunder boomed.

* * *

Sorry for a super long A/N, but it is kinda worth reading, at least once! Please do!

Wow. Okay, this might be the most personal thing I've ever written. It does (or is going to) deal with a lot of my own insecurities, thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I'm incredibly proud of this story.

However, despite being my most personal story, it's also the only one I need to thank two other people for.

First is the person who inspired me, frozenhikki, author of October Storm. I think it's the best piece if writing I have ever read, bar none. The writing, not necessarily the whole thing, though the story itself is excellent too. That story is how everyone should write, I swear. Me and my beta have started talking about writing being "October Storm good."

Speaking of my beta, the second person is Wendy Crescent, my incredible beta reader. Some lucky authors on here might know her for her incredible reviews that are probably better crafted than most stories on this site. She really makes me want to keep writing and has improved this so much. It would be nowhere near as good without her.

You guys should thank both of these wonderful people. Seriously, they rock, and you should tell them so.


	2. It Could be Raining Anywhere

Ruby awoke slowly, her eyes blinking heavily.

Morning...

Don't wanna get up...

Too sunny to sleep...

Fine. If that was how the sun was gonna play it...

Ruby yawned and sort of fell out of bed, her cheek landing on the rough red carpet that covered her floor as her blanket tangled around her legs. Ruby kicked off the blanket, climbed to her feet, and stumbled out the door to the kitchen. There was a clock on the ancient oven in there... and she needed to know what time it was so she'd know whether or not to get ready for school...

School!

Weiss!

Ruby was suddenly wide awake, and she dashed into the kitchen. It was eight o'clock already! She was already like an hour-

Ruby suddenly realized this wasn't high school, it was college, and she only had two or three classes a day. And her first one was at eleven. And she had scheduled everything around the middle of the day on purpose because she hated getting up early.

Deep breaths, Ruby, just take a few deep breaths...

After that little panic session, she was wide awake, so she figured she might as well make some breakfast. Ruby rooted around in their little mini fridge, trying to find eggs. There were none. Ruby glared at a stubborn patch of bright yellow mold that clung to the inside of the crisper. She was pretty sure it had eaten the eggs. That was the kind of thing evil bits of mold did, right?

Ruby sighed and looked for something else. The selection wasn't great, but maybe she could scrape something together... And while she was at it, she might as well toss the old stuff. It was just taking up space.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Ruby was munching on sour cream and onion potato chips with super spicy salsa on the side. She had gone on an expiration date rampage, which turned out to basically involve throwing out the entire contents of the fridge. The only things left were the salsa, some rice from the takeout Chinese they had ordered last week, and five bottles of half empty steak sauce.

What was even with the steak sauce? They couldn't even afford steaks, much less enough to use up five bottles!

Ruby decided she had cried enough and gave up on the salsa. If nothing else, the stuff had probably cleared out her nose for the next two years.

Stupid Yang and her stupid addiction to spicy food...

Ruby rolled up the chips and stuck them back in the pantry, which was almost as empty as the fridge. Well, aside from a lifetime supply of canned beans. Ruby had long ago resolved she would never be desperate enough to actually eat them, but her sister did, using up a dozen cans a week. In fact, that was also the intended purpose of the salsa. Bean sauce.

There was no accounting for taste. Yang's taste buds in particular seemed to defy any norms, at least in Ruby's mind. Maybe that was what the steak sauce was for too... it wouldn't surprise her.

Ruby looked at the clock again. It was eight thirty. She might as well try and head out to campus... There certainly wasn't anything for her to do here... And if she got there early, she could get the thing with Weiss over as quickly and painlessly las possible.

Then she glanced over at the overflowing rusty kitchen trash can, filled with the ghosts of dinners past.

Well. Maybe she could take that out, at least.

* * *

It took thirty minutes to walk to school, and it was a bit chillier this morning, with fairly strong wind, so Ruby decided to dress warmer. She wore a t-shirt with a picture of a little fairy on it and the caption 'I believe.' To that she added a scruffy red and hoodie and a pair of jeans without any holes at all.

She was very proud of that last one. Jeans without holes were hard to come by.

Ruby slipped on her shoes, scooped up her backpack, and headed out the door. Their upstairs neighbor, Eleanor, was up on her fire escape, leaning her arms on the rail and letting her long, pale blonde hair blow in the wind. She was twenty something and an aspiring novelist, going to Vale Academy downtown. Ruby liked her, despite the fact that the other girl was a little strange.

"Hi!" Ruby called, deciding to stop a minute and chat. It couldn't hurt. Also, after the whole thing with her phone's battery running out last night, she wasn't exactly rushing over to any place Weiss might be.

"Hullo." Eleanor called back. "Is everything all right?" Her voice was surprisingly deep, especially for her size, though it tended to range a lot as she talked, high to low and back again. Nothing about Eleanor ever really stayed the same, even her voice.

Ruby wasn't sure what to say to that. Either Eleanor thought she was only talking to her because she had a problem, or she thought Ruby was worried about something. It was probably the second. Eleanor was weirdly perceptive when it came to other people.

Ruby decided to head up the fire escape, figuring it probably wasn't the best idea to shout everything up a flight of stairs.

"Kinda..." She said, when she got up next to Eleanor.

"You don't sound like a 'kinda,' you sound like a 'no.'" Eleanor's eyebrow raised, along with one corner of her mouth, turning her bland expression into a crooked grin. "If you aren't in a hurry, we could talk about it over tea."

"That sounds great." Ruby replied. "Mind if I come in?"

"I just invited you, didn't I?" Eleanor said, swishing into her apartment. "So no, I don't think I do."

"Okay then." Ruby wiped her feet on the green welcome mat outside the door, and stepped in.

Eleanor's place, despite sharing the exact same floor plan as Ruby and Yang's, was very different. She didn't have any rugs, preferring the wood floor. She barely had any furniture, since it was just her and she rarely had any guests. What she did have tended to be big and old and filled with stuffing, picked up at some thrift store or another. It was a stark contrast to their apartment, which was messy, and cluttered, and filled to the brim.

The only two modern things she owned were a laptop and a shiny silver teapot, with a bunch of buttons on it. Eleanor loved tea, and her teapot was absolutely amazing. It was electric, and could go to any temperature you wanted.

Ruby plopped down in a big red armchair while Eleanor headed for the kitchen.

"I think you're in the mood for mint." Eleanor decided, setting the teapot boiling. The went to her spice cabinet and started pulling down little bottles, some filled with spices and others with liquids.

Eleanor's tea was always an experience. She didn't just use tea leaves, she put in spices and extracts and flavorings of all kinds. It was always delicious, but Eleanor saying she was making mint tea was like someone else saying they were baking a pie. It gave a general idea, but you didn't really know what you were getting until you actually took a bite. Or a sip, in this case.

Eleanor poured the water into two white mugs, and came into the living room, leaving the tea in the kitchen to steep while an egg timer ticked down the time until it was ready.

"So, what's up?" She asked, sitting down on a fat leather chair and hugging her knees to her chest.

"Well, you know how I went to my first day of college yesterday? At Beacon?"

Eleanor bobbed her head. "Mhmm. You were all nervous too. How'd it go?"

"Pretty bad, for the most part. The people there are... Well, kinda stuck up. And rich. I met one person who didn't seem too bad, but I might have messed that up."

"Really? How?"

Suddenly, the timer went off, and Eleanor sprang off her chair and was in the kitchen in a flash. She came back with the tea, passing one mug over to Ruby. She took a sip. Eleanor had included a generous splash of milk, and added some nutty, buttery flavors to the minty taste of the tea.

Ruby agreed with Eleanor's earlier assessment. She had been in the mood for mint.

"So, spill. What's put a bee in your bonnet?" Eleanor asked, then giggled. She liked using old fashioned expressions, but could never take herself seriously when she did.

"Well, the friend I made? My phone died when we were talking last night at kind of an important part in our conversation... we barely know eachother, so I'm worried she thinks I just left."

Eleanor gave her a dry look. "You know, if she isn't willing to listen to you explain differently, you probably don't want to be talking to her." That was typical Eleanor. She never minced her words, and was almost always blunt when she gave advice.

"Yeah but..."

"There will be no buts in this conversation. She might be mad, but if she doesn't give you time to explain, she's a bitch and you shouldn't talk to her." And that was that. You never, ever argued with Eleanor. She would just keep repeating her point until you gave up.

They chatted aimlessly for a few more minutes while Ruby finished her tea, then she thanked Eleanor and left. The wind whipped her hair across her face as she started down the road, heading for Beacon.

Above, the sky looked like rain. Two fat drops fell down, down, down, and splashed next to the red Puma sneakers of a girl walking by the side of the road.

* * *

When she got to school, Ruby was completely soaked.

While she normally wouldn't mind rain, now she had to sit in class, dripping wet and miserable for three or four hours before she could go home. Ruby trudged up to the gates of Beacon, too cold and grumpy to even admire them. She just wanted to get inside, and maybe shake a little off on the floor to get some of the water off before she got to class. At the very least, this had happened enough that her bag was waterproof. Except for whatever leaked through the patch, her stuff should be fine.

Suddenly she stopped, puzzled. Through the heavy rainfall, she could see a blue umbrella waiting by the gates. And underneath that umbrella was none other than Weiss Schnee, sporting a glare so icy cold that Ruby was amazed the rain hadn't frozen solid.

"Ruby Rose!" She called over the rain, her voice hot and angry, in sharp contrast to her glare. "You have a lot of explaining to do!" Then she took another look, saw how absolutely drenched Ruby was, and rushed over with her umbrella. "And what are you thinking, out in the rain like this! You'll catch cold, you dolt! Get under my umbrella."

Ruby gratefully scrambled under, keeping away from Weiss to avoid messing up her completely dry clothes. Just like yesterday, Weiss was dressed gorgeously, in a tight blue cashmere sweater and long white dress pants. Her feet were snug inside a pair of bright blue wellington boots, and she was carrying the same large white handbag from yesterday. Her hair formed a flowing white layer down her back, not in a ponytail like before. It reminded Ruby of freshly fallen snow, somehow.

"Just don't drip on me." The other girl commanded, leading them inside. They hurried across campus into the engineering building, where Weiss folded up her umbrella, slipping it into a carrying bag and slipping it into her purse. Then she looked at Ruby, who looked like nothing more than a soaking wet cat.

"...You left yesterday." Weiss said at last, but it sounded half hearted compared to before.

"I'm really sorry..." Ruby mumbled. "My phone died and I couldn't find the charger..."

"Are you serious?" She demanded. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you can't keep track of anything. I... accept your apology. Though it had better not happen again." Weiss said, with a heavy sigh. "And if you want to change out of those clothes, I have some you could borrow in my dorm room. When is your first class?"

"Still like an hour away." Ruby replied. "I have plenty of time... If you don't wanna, I'll be, well, dryer by then... It'll be fine..."

"Quit moping and follow me before I change my mind." Weiss snapped, and Ruby instantly obeyed.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Ruby came out of Weiss's immaculate bathroom in a long white skirt, blue v-neck sweater, and a pair of white ballet flats. She rarely wore skirts, so it was a little... breezier than she was used to, but she was grateful to have something to wear. Weiss had also given her a spare umbrella, an exact duplicate of the one she was keeping in her own bag. Ruby walked out of the bathroom, ready to face the day.

Weiss's clothes looked really good on her, surprisingly. Ruby had spent as much time admiring herself in the mirror as she had actually changing.

Weiss looked good on her...

Speaking of Weiss, she was standing outside with a stick of deodorant. "Put this on. I don't want to smell you when you're done with those." She commanded. Ruby went back in the bathroom, generously applied some, and came out again, offering the stick back to Weiss. The other girl shook her head.

"Keep it, I don't want it now."

Ruby stuffed it in her bag.

"So uh..." Ruby said, tense and tongue tied. She was in Weiss's dorm room. Weiss had invited her in. And given her clothes. And wasn't mad at her about before. Well... not very at least. She had to be dreaming, this couldn't be anything other than a story written by her desperate and overactive imagination, but honestly, she didn't care.

Nobody had better pinch her, though, because if someone did, and she woke up, she would find them in the real world.

And kill them.

Weiss started heading for the door. "I'm going to walk around campus for a little while. You're welcome to join me." She looked back at Ruby. "You're not welcome to stay here, however."

"Uh. Yeah. Right behind you Weiss." Ruby scooped up her bag and followed, trailing after her like a little puppy.

As it turned out, Weiss wasn't in the mood for conversation, and after a couple tries, Ruby just left the silence be, the pounding rain and the sound of their shoes on the floor the only noises to be heard. The campus wasn't exactly very populous, and Weiss seemed to be sticking to the parts almost nobody ever went. Ruby only ever saw another student once, who gave them a funny look before quickly walking away.

They were in the arts building fifteen minutes later before Weiss said a word.

"I don't have many friends." She said, forcing every word out like they were somehow too big to squeeze out. "So I may have... overreacted about you leaving. I assumed the worst, instead of thinking about what was most likely."

Ruby listened closely. This almost sounded like an apology. Ruby got the sense that Weiss may have never apologized for anything in her life, that this was as close as she ever got. It was a nice feeling. Somehow, she felt privileged to even hear this much.

"Don't worry about it." Ruby said, with a small smile.

Abruptly, Weiss stopped, pretending to look at a clock mounted on the wall, a clock she had checked only five minutes ago. "I have to go to class." She said, abruptly rushing away. She pulled up short just before disappearing, and turned around to look at Ruby. "I'll be at La Rose Blanche for lunch."

Then she vanished behind one of the high bookshelves.

Ruby stood there for a full minute, a goofy grin plastered on her face. Weiss had asked her to lunch! Sort of! Maybe! Ruby could still catch a faint whiff of her perfume, a clear, minty smell, like a breath of fresh air in the musty old library.

For the second time that day, Ruby found herself agreeing with Eleanor.

She was in the mood for mint.

* * *

Ruby made sure to pay attention during her first class, Figure Drawing 102. It was actually a pretty cool class, and even though she'd only had an hour of it so far she was learning new things. After that, she rushed out of the room and straight for the food, staring intently at her map. La Rose Blanche... well, conveniently enough, it was right next to Guglhupf. Though if memory served, out of all the places she looked at yesterday, it was by far the most expensive.

Well, Weiss probably didn't even notice the fifty dollar price tag attached to most of those meals.

Ruby was so absorbed in her map that she ran right in to a solid brick wall of a chest. She stumbled back, and fell on the floor.

Crap... Weiss was gonna kill her if she messed up the skirt...

"Well well well, if it isn't the pig girl." Said a familiar voice. Ruby looked up, her dream abruptly turning into a nightmare. It was the two guys she had seen the first day of school. Yes, the really hot ones. Two jerks for the price of one. Fifty percent off, purchase now while supplies last. Comes with a complementary series of insults, mocking laughs, and superior smirks.

Ruby wanted a refund, and to know what was up with her metaphors lately. At least they were all in her head... If she actually said any of that out loud, she would never be able to show her face in public again.

"I'm sorry for running into you..." She mumbled, climbing up off the floor, and dusting off her skirt. But they weren't done with her yet.

The redhead, the first guy she had met, spoke up. His voice was deep, but kinda nasally. It grated on her ears. "Oh hey, I recognize her too. Where'd you get those clothes? They actually look decent. Did you steal them?"

Ruby flushed a brilliant red, and started to open her mouth to say something, anything. Instead, someone spoke for her.

"Actually, I loaned them to her." From the lips of an angel...

All heads turned to look at Weiss Schnee, striding down the hallway and scowling like a thunderhead.

"Mr Winchester, Mr Bronzewing." She said, all the chill of Winter in her voice. "I really do hope you two aren't bothering Miss Rose."

"I, uh -" The redhead stammered, while the blonde one just looked away. Ruby felt a surge of satisfaction as Weiss continued.

"Also, it seems to me that you ran into Miss Rose while she was walking down the hallway, minding her own business. You could have avoided her, but you ran straight into her and knocked her down, while she was wearing one. Of. My. Nicest. Skirts." Weiss ground out each word like a curse. "Leave. Before I decide that this Christmas, I want the two of you homeless."

They turned and fled, scrambling down the hallway away from the furious heiress, their patent leather Oxfords slapping on the tiles. Ruby started dusting off the skirt somewhat frantically, hoping that there wasn't anything on it that Weiss might find fault with. Her nicest skirt? Augh!

"Oh, calm down Ruby." Weiss sighed. "It isn't actually that nice a skirt." Nevertheless, she picked off a few little pieces of dirt from it, her hand brushing into Ruby's leg. It sent a chill up her spine, even that little touch. "Are you ready for lunch?"

"Um... yeah... my next class is at one..." Ruby said, her voice hesitant and soft.

"Good. Then let's go."

* * *

The restaurant was absolutely amazing. Lit by hundreds of little candles, the light wood interior was flawless. Ruby looked around uncomfortably. This place was kinda... romantic... Most of the people in here were couples. Straight couples. The young men and women of high society were all sequestered in their own little tables, staring dreamily at eachother in the candlelight and making quiet conversation. There didn't seem to be much place for a couple of girls going as 'just friends' around here.

Were they just friends? Or was this Weiss's way of going on a date?

Her breath hitched at the idea.

What would she do if it was?

Would she mind?

A waiter with a little pencil mustache in a red vest and dress shirt greeted them at the door, interrupting Ruby's train of thought.

"Ladies, table for two?" He offered.

"Yes please. On the balcony." Weiss replied, and off they went. Weiss followed the waiter, delicately stepping along the dark red carpet. Ruby was a step or two behind, feeling for all the world like the ugly duckling.

The waiter led them to a covered balcony, perfectly dry despite the rain, which poured down just onto a large red covering the restaurant had set up. He gestured to an intimate little table for two, and they seated themselves as he passed out two menus. Ruby was careful with Weiss's skirt, pulling it up under her so she sat on it flat. She had already gotten hallway dirt on it, so she figured it was best not to add wrinkles to her list of crimes.

"I will return for your orders in a few minutes." He said, bowed, and left, closing the glass door of the balcony behind him.

"Why'd we come out here?" Ruby asked. "I mean, I don't mind... it isn't windy anymore, or cold. But still..."

"I like to watch the rain." Weiss replied, a distant expression in her eyes. She leaned her chin on her hand and looked out at the sheets of water pouring from the sky.

"Oh. Uh... I guess it's nice... though it's really coming down isn't it? I mean, after last night, you wouldn't think there would be this much..." Ruby laughed awkwardly and trailed off. What could she say? Gah! This was so frustrating! For lack of anything better to do, she looked down at the menu.

There was a pause.

"...Uh, Weiss." Ruby said hesitantly.

"Hmm?" The other girl's eyes flicked over to meet Ruby's.

"I can't read French." Ruby said lamely, like somehow she should be ashamed of it.

"Oh, of course." Weiss murmured. She stood up, lifted her chair, and placed it next to Ruby's. Somehow, that seemed surprising. It was somehow wrong for Weiss to lift anything, like she should have someone do it for her. Then Ruby shook her head. That was ridiculous. Weiss was one of the most independent people she had ever met. Of course she could lift her own chair.

Geez Ruby. Head in the game.

Weiss was sitting very close, she realized, and she swallowed hard.

"What do you like to eat?" Weiss asked, pointing at different spots on the menu. "For instance, that's pork, and there's beef, and there's soups."

"Um... beef?" Ruby said, thinking of the steak sauce in the fridge back home.

"In that case, I would recommend the filet mignon, with the mushrooms and Madeira." Weiss said. "It's excellent, a specialty of the chef."

That second word, excellent, sent a chill down Ruby's spine.

The waiter returned just then, interrupting them for a brief moment while he took their orders. Then they were alone again.

"Do you know why I like the rain, like this?" Weiss asked suddenly.

Ruby didn't know if she was expected to reply, but as Weiss continued, she realized she wasn't. "It's because we could be anywhere. Look, you can't even see the school. This could be a balcony anywhere, at any time and in any place."

Somehow, that was the most romantic thing Ruby had ever heard. "Yeah... now that you mention it, the buildings are just smudges. If I didn't know what I was looking for I couldn't even tell."

Ruby was struck with a sudden urge to draw, so she dove her backpack, which was resting against her chair, pulling out a sketchpad with thick white paper and a set of pencils.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked, sounding intrigued.

"I just want to sketch this." Ruby replied. She captured the balcony in a few quick, thick strokes, adding in the background of the rain with some lighter, densely clustered ones, the scene beginning to take shape. Just then the waiter came back, carrying two plates of food. Ruby didn't know what Weiss had ordered, it had been in French after all, but she could see now that it was a thick, creamy soup.

"Thank you." Weiss said kindly, and again the waiter was gone. Just before he left, he looked over Ruby's shoulder.

"If I may, miss, that is an excellent drawing." He said, eyes sparkling. "Of the other lady, correct?" Ruby looked down. She had begun to capture Weiss's clothes, and the table, with a single curve of the other girl's jaw resting on top of her long neck.

Ruby blushed a brilliant shade of crimson, and the waiter left, chuckling to himself.

Weiss glared after him. "I don't like what he was-" She stopped. "Nevermind." Almost angrily, she lifted her spoon and took a bite of the soup.

Ruby lifted a bite of mushroom to her mouth, the other hand sketching madly. She bit down over her fork.

Oh so good...

Ruby couldn't help it, she hummed a little, the creamy mushroom was absolutely bursting with flavor. It was one of the best things she had ever tasted.

"Oh wow." She said, once she had finished chewing. "That's awesome." She tried to find other words, but it was like that first time seeing Weiss. English had failed her. Stupid words. They were never there when she needed them...

"I'm glad you like it." Weiss replied, taking a dainty sip of her soup.

"Yeah. Wow, thanks so much." Ruby said, eagerly scooping a big bite into her mouth. Weiss frowned at that.

"You'll choke." She said pointedly, her expression annoyed.

Ruby laughed guiltily. "Oops, sorry. Guess I got a bit carried away..." She set down her drawing and got to work on her meal, and despite managing to reign herself in enough to take smaller bites, she demolished it in around ten minutes. She went back to sketching, her brow furrowed as she stared at the paper. She was so focused, in fact, that she didn't notice Weiss was standing right behind her until a little breath tickled her ear. She jumped, pencil skittering across the paper.

Blushing furiously, Ruby hunched her shoulders and rubbed at the offending mark with her eraser. She felt bad about screwing up in front of Weiss... she must think she was such a spaz...

Finally, the drawing was done and met with Ruby's standards. Weiss leaned in closer to see, her breath cool on Ruby's ear.

"It's excellent." She breathed.

That word again. Ruby gulped.

"You know, you never gave me the other one I saw you doing yesterday." Weiss remarked.

"Oh! Oh right!" Ruby flipped a couple pages back in the sketchbook, away from the bodies she had drawn earlier in class, to the drawing in question. Carefully, she pulled it out, the paper coming cleanly away from the glue holding the book together. She repeated the process with the second drawing, and offered them both to Weiss.

"Here you go."

Weiss took them, and drew something out of her own bag, a white binder. She tucked the drawings carefully in, doing it extremely slowly to avoid any wrinkles.

"Thank you."

Two simple words, but Ruby had never felt so alive.

They sat their for a few more minutes, just looking out at the rain together, and suddenly, Ruby had a crazy urge to be somewhere, anywhere else. Somewhere this moment could last forever.

Because no matter how much she wished it, the rain was hiding their school, not a silent world where the only people alive were the two of them. They would have to leave, and leave soon.

Weiss had been right.

It was amazing to imagine that it could be any place, any time, anywhere. But maybe she had been wrong too.

They were here, now, and that was beautiful in it's own way. Ruby realized she wouldn't want to be anywhere but here and now...

Next to this girl.

This girl she...

Then the waiter came.

The magic was broken.

And before she knew it, Weiss was gone, vanished into the rain.

* * *

This was 90% written to Arwen's Vigil by the Piano Guys, Rolling in the Deep by Adele, and S&M by Rihanna. Nope, it doesn't make any sense to me either. Like, that playlist had nothing to do with what I was writing... I think Arwen's Vigil was on there to help me think, Rolling in the Deep got added because I wanted to hear it for no reason, and S&M... well, probly because I thought of my girlfriend and that's kind her theme song.

I mean, she's wonderful and I love her to death, but that girl she has a really, really scary mind.

Oh, and as usual, my wonderful beta, Wendy Crescent, is to thank for anything I write. I'm never publishing anything without her ever again. She is responsible for that ending, which is, I think, the best way I've ever ended anything.

Oh. Last thing really. Does anyone remember The Frost and the Rose? Because I reused the restaurant name. Though I think I classed it up a little... what do you guys think?

Elea


	3. I'm Not Worth It

Woo! New chapter! The first part is something a bit different... FYI, in their fictional college, the first day of school is on September first.

* * *

Selected Sections Of The Journal Of Weiss Schnee

* * *

Her name is Ruby Rose. I rather like her, though I find it hard to believe she gets as good grades as she must have to have been admitted. She seems a little too frivolous...

September 2nd

Ruby and I went to the French restaurant on campus, though I don't believe I'll invite her to do it again. Some other students made assumptions I'd rather not have trickle back to my father... It's unfortunate, because it was a rather nice time.

September 7th

I hope Ruby didn't notice me staring during Economics. That was rather unlike me... very rude.

September 16th

Ruby gave me a hug today. It was... Interesting.

September 18th

Apparently some of the other students think we're dating, which is absolute foolishness. I certainly don't have time for a relationship right now.

October 2nd

I don't think I know anyone else with the name Ruby... and it's really a pretty name, I'm surprised it isn't used more.

October 13th

Today is supposedly unlucky, so Ruby made me wear a four leaf clover. It seems rather silly to me, to be honest, but nothing bad happened so maybe it worked.

October 22nd

Apparently I am a Halloween Scrooge. I wasn't aware that such a thing existed, but since I am not planning to dress up, Ruby says that I am.

October 31st

I'm not sure that Ruby's costume passed the school dress code. It was... well, practically scandalous. And all too many people were staring... which was extremely frustrating. She didn't seem to mind, but I certainly did! It was disgusting! They were just... ugh. I need to get my mind of this...

November 1st

School will end for Winter Break soon. And... I think I have a problem. I've been looking back through my journal, and I seem to have something of an obsession with Ruby. This bears thinking about...

November 2nd

She hugged me again. It felt a lot better than it should have. Normally, I don't exactly do well with contact... but this felt... (The next words were scribbled out.)

November 3rd

Damn that girl!

November 4th

I'm noticing it when Ruby touches me far, far too much. In fact, I think I might be seeking them out.

November 6th

I had to pretend to be sick today just to get my homework done. Otherwise I would have spent too much time thinking about Ruby... This is ridiculous.

November 7th

I don't understand this...

November 11th

Well, I did some research on this today. The results are disturbing. Apparently, I might be gay. That was... unexpected. I certainly don't mind but... what am I going to tell my parents... or maybe it's just Ruby... Well either way, it doesn't exactly help my case.

November 13th

Now I'm certain. I'm in love with Ruby. Why now of all times...

November 16th

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS!

November 20th

(Furious scribbles blot out all the words on this page.)

November 27th

That's it. Absolutely it. I have to do something about this... I'll just ask her on a date. She obviously won't be interested, and I can stop worrying about it. This is perfect. I'll do it tomorrow.

December 4th

I still haven't managed to do it. Why am I so worried? I need to return to my studies! I just need her to reject me so I can return to my life!

December 12th

Today is the day. No more excuses. And next week is the beginning of Winter break, so this should be perfect. I can use the spare time to get my head straight, and then return to school and everything can just be like it used to be...

I hope she'll still talk to me after this...

* * *

It was December 13th. Weiss stepped out of the pure silver limousine that drove her to Beacon every morning. "Thank you, Otto." She said. The elderly German chauffeur nodded and sped off. Weiss looked around as she walked up to the campus, her pale blue eyes searching for red.

As was their routine over the past few months, Ruby was waiting for her at the gates. They both spotted eachother at the same time, and Weiss's hand moved in a little wave, just once.

The other girl waved back enthusiastically, her thick puffy jacket making the gesture look absolutely ridiculous. It was Winter out, and that meant Ruby was wearing The Coat. The Coat was a size too large, and lumpy in all the wrong places, making the other girl look like nothing so much as a strawberry marshmallow. It was, quite simply, laughable.

Weiss was happy she had a sense of style, as she hugged her long, white fur lined overcoat around her body.

"Hi, Weiss!" Ruby chirped, running up to walk beside her.

"Hello, Ruby." Weiss replied, her voice a little bit of warmth in the chilly morning air. Ruby grinned, and Weiss allowed herself a small smile in return.

"So, we got some time to kill. Wanna get hot chocolate?" Ruby offered. She didn't say it, neither of them had, but they had both been arriving at school earlier and earlier, spending longer and longer mornings together. It was an unspoken rule that Weiss would pull up at least an hour early, and Ruby would be there waiting for her.

"I would rather have tea." Weiss replied. "But if you want to drink that sugary trash, you may, I just won't be." It was a well worn argument, comfortable for them both. They had one just like it every December morning. Weiss would cite health concerns, Ruby would protest that it was delicious, and eventually Weiss would relent, and their morning would begin over steaming cups of hot chocolate at Guglhupf. Secretly, Weiss loved the drink, thinking it much better than tea, though Ruby never needed to know that.

They walked through the campus, rhythms matched perfectly, every step matched with another of equal length. Though Ruby didn't know it, they were quite the hot topic on campus. The richest, most well bred girl on campus, the heiress Weiss Schnee, wouldn't say two kind words to anyone but some ghetto rat.

Positively scandalous, and for people with too much time on their hands, absolutely fascinating. As usual, people stared and pointed when they thought Weiss's subzero stare wouldn't find them. Scum, the lot of them. If they had to gossip, they could have the decency to talk about it out of Weiss's earshot. She could hear them every morning.

"...Like that every day."

"...Romantic dinner once..."

"Heard they were dating..."

Well, at least Ruby seemed oblivious. That was a relief. If she had heard... there would have been words. None of them kind.

Weiss walked into Guglhupf, long white coat swirling about her heels and Ruby following her footsteps. The cashier looked up, recognized them, and started their order without so much as a word. Weiss approved of that. It was very efficient of her.

Ruby snagged their usual table, and Weiss carefully lowered herself into her seat, dropping her bag down next to her. A moment later, their drinks arrived, and the pair quietly sipped at them, looking at eachother over the tabletop. Their feet brushed against eachother, touching as they rearranged their legs, always seeming to pull back without actually moving away. Their usual, tentative dance.

As she let the hot, spicy, sugary sweet drink wash down her throat, Weiss looked over the table at Ruby, her gaze searching, questioning.

Should it be today?

Could it be today?

Weiss had wanted a day with meaning, but somehow, around this girl every day was something to be treasured. She looked for an answer the silver orbs just a few feet away, but found nothing. Just the glow Ruby always had, the light that...

No.

She was not going to sound like some lovesick teenager.

At the very least, she would keep her dignity.

Weiss angrily took a too-large gulp of her chocolate, scalding her tongue in the process. Just wonderful...

Today was not going to go well. But her mind was made up.

This was the day.

She was going to ask Ruby... on a date.

All she had to do was get through the day.

* * *

"Hey Weiss?" Ruby asked. School had just let out, and as usual, the pair was making their way to the gates together. "You've seemed a little... off today. Are you okay?"

Weiss waved it off. "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

Their shoulders brushed as Ruby walked just a little too close. Had it been on purpose, or just an accident?

"...Geez. Just asking." Ruby grumbled, kicking at a rock. "I mean, I'm just a bit worried, you know?"

Worried as a friend or something more? It was driving Weiss crazy not to know...

"Well, anyway, I was wondering if you might want to come over today." Weiss said, her voice as hesitant as it ever was. Which is to say, not very. Only someone who knew her while had a chance at detecting the slight tremor, the small pauses.

Did Ruby know her that well?

Ruby's step hitched for a moment, her breath pausing for just an instant. Weiss flinched, noting the little signs with a sick feeling growing in her gut. She was panicking! She didn't want to do it... Damn, damn, damn-

"Yeah! That sounds... that sounds great!" Ruby said, a little breathless, a lot excited. "I'll just call Yang and tell her not to pick me up..." Ruby pulled out her phone and dialed Yang, while Weiss resisted the urge to grin. Ruby was coming to her apartment! And she actually seemed happy about it!

"You've never asked me over before..." Ruby mumbled shyly, and Weiss Schnee's heart grew three sizes that moment. She felt so light, like at any moment she might leave the ground behind. This was going much better than she expected. Maybe she had a chance after all...

It was more than she could have ever asked for.

The silver white limo was already waiting for them, and Weiss opened the door, gesturing for Ruby to get in. The other girl smiled a little, looking surprised. "Thank you Weiss."

Weiss slid in beside her. "Home please, Otto."

The elderly chauffeur smiled as the limousine slid into motion. "Bringing girls home, Miss Schnee?" He said, his tone light and teasing. "What would your father think?"

Weiss ground her teeth, nails curling along the seat. "Thank you Otto, for your observation, but it is none of your business." She said, her tone making it clear she wanted this topic to be over. Now.

But the old man seemed to take no notice. "And such a pretty girl too! Quite good taste, though possibly she is just hmmm... a gold digger? Is that the term? I know Miss Schnee isn't much to look at, so skinny, but she does have lots of money!"

"Otto!" Weiss shrieked, hearing choked sobs in the seat next to her. She turned to look at Ruby, terrified the other girl was crying.

It turned out to be quite the opposite.

Ruby was literally choking with laughter, tears streaming down her face. It ended in a coughing fit a moment later, and she recovered somewhat, a pink glow in her cheeks and a huge smile stretching across her face. "You're worse than my sister!" She giggled madly. "Oh man, you can't pay him enough!"

Otto waggled his eyebrows into the mirror. "Miss Schnee, your girlfriend wants you to give me more money. I think she talks a lot of sense."

"She isn't my girlfriend!" Weiss yelled, slamming one hand on the seat.

Ruby looked at her, mock-serious. "Now sweetie, you need to calm down." Her mouth wavered, then broke out into a grin again, and Ruby dissolved back into peals of laughter.

Weiss covered her face with one hand, her cheeks flushing a brilliant ruby red. It was going to feel like a very, very long car ride... This could not get any more humiliating...

* * *

A few thankfully brief minutes later, they pulled up in front of a huge luxury apartment building, with lots of high glass windows and pure white walls, done in a modern style. Weiss lived in the penthouse suite, with a nice view of the city. It was her residence for college. After all, her father had agreed with her when she asked him for a little independence during her studies, as long as her studies didn't falter.

Also, there was the small detail that if their arguments got any worse, one of them would probably have been dead before the first semester ended.

Weiss got out of the car like the seat had caught fire, the delighted giggles of Ruby following her.

"Oh man I love him." Ruby said, breathless, as they walked through the revolving glass doors.

"Well, I'm glad." Weiss replied stiffly. She wasn't exactly in the best of spirits. After all, she had never made Ruby laugh like that...

Maybe today wasn't the best day. There was always tomorrow, because after all, it was like the old saying went.

Tomorrow never comes.

The pair stepped into the gleaming silver elevator, and Weiss punched in the button for the fortieth floor, her suite. The button glowed blue, and up they went.

"So... all the way up, huh? I can't wait to see the view!" Ruby said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Weiss couldn't tell if it was excitement or nerves, and she didn't know which would be better. "How big's your place? Do you have like, a few rooms or..."

"My father reserved the floor for me." Weiss said offhandedly.

Ruby's jaw seemed to drop all the way down to her lace up combat boots. "The whole floor? But it must be huge!"

"Well, compared to my family's mansion it's rather small."

"Mansion? Geez! Now I wanna see that too..."

...Was Ruby saying she wanted to go home with her, or something? Weiss mulled over that question, turning it over and around in her head. Maybe she was reading too much into it... but did 'just friends' ask to come home with eachother?

Somehow, Weiss hoped the answer was no. But it wasn't like she really had any other friends she could ask.

The doors dinged and slid open, and Weiss stepped into her apartment. Without so much as a glance at the elegant furniture or spacious room, Weiss made for her refrigerator.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Weiss offered, looking back over at Ruby. Then she sighed. The girl was gawping. "And close your mouth! Something's going to fly in."

"Uh. Yeah. Sorry... Um, water? Would water be okay or do you just serve melted gold here..."

"For heaven's sake, Ruby." Weiss said crossly, heading for the kitchen door. "Haven't you ever been in an apartment building before?"

"Yeah. I live in a flat after all. But have you ever been in a normal apartment before?" Ruby asked, stressing the word normal. "I mean, your couch... couches, actually, probably cost more than everything I own..."

Weiss decided not to dignify that with a response, instead pushing open the kitchen door. Surely, Ruby was exaggerating. There was no way her couch was worth that much, it was simply ridiculous. Shaking her head in exasperation, Weiss grabbed a slender glass from the cabinet, and filled it up with ice water from the fridge. Turning to pass it to Ruby, she stopped, simply staring instead. The moment was too perfect to interrupt.

Ruby was pressed up against the big window in the kitchen like she wanted to dive through it, eyes sparkling with amazement as she looked down at the city below. She turned back to Weiss, eyes wide like the moon and mouth slightly open, curled into one of the widest smiles Weiss had ever seen.

"Weiss, this place is amazing! I've never seen the city from so high up!" Ruby looked back down, something unreadable in her eyes. "I wish I knew what it was like to live somewhere like here..."

"Well, just don't smudge the window while you're admiring the view..." Weiss muttered, but her tone was fond, not snappish like she might have been. Their hands brushed briefly as she handed over the glass, and did she imagine it or did Ruby have to catch her breath?

Ruby carefully lowered herself onto a long white couch, and Weiss daintily sat herself in a chair opposite.

"So, what do you do all day here?" Ruby asked, wrapping her full red lips around the slim glass as she took a sip.

Weiss was jealous of a glass. A piece of melted sand.

This was just ridiculous.

"Honestly, I study." Weiss replied, trying not to let her runaway thoughts show on her face. "And when I'm done with that, I usually catch up on the news."

Ruby gave her a horrified look. "So no television? What?"

"I just told you I watch the news!"

"I mean real TV! Not boring stuff!"

"It is real TV! It's on the television, there is no way for it not to be 'real' TV!"

"Okay!" Ruby stood up, and looked around. "Where's the remote! We're fixing this."

"Fixing what!" Weiss demanded, more than slightly offended.

"You needa watch the good stuff! Like Adventure Time!" One of Ruby's hands flew to her mouth, like something had upset her. Or maybe it was a bug. With how much it had been open lately, it wouldn't be surprising... "Oh man I forgot, they're doing a marathon! We gotta watch it! Weiss, where's the remote!" Ruby suddenly spot it on her own and was across the room in an instant, scooping it up and mashing buttons with the ease of long practice. She plopped back down on the couch and patted a seat next to her. "C'mon." She said, a little quieter than before. "Sit down with me?"

Weiss ducked her head a little, standing up slowly, shyly. So close... did Ruby...

No.

She.

Was.

Not.

Lovesick.

Almost angrily, Weiss planted herself on the spot Ruby indicated. She sat stiff and rigid as Ruby surfed channels, her eyes dead ahead. A million thoughts raced through her head. Was Ruby enjoying this? Did she think Weiss was was stuck up? Boring? Was she just here out of pity or did she-

There was a hand on her back. A soft, warm, feminine hand, just barely brushing the line of her spine.

"Hey. Calm down." Ruby said quietly, her voice so, so soft. "You're all tense."

And she was. She even leaned back a little, trying to find more of that touch, that girl.

Ruby moved her hand back before the touch could get any closer, and Weiss had to make do with the fleeting sensation.

Dammit.

She wasn't...

Dammit...

The show started, and Weiss concentrated on it with laser like focus, trying to block out the girl beside her. As it went on, her eyebrow knitted together and she frowned. What was with the art... and the story... and the everything... "Ruby, is this for kindergarteners?" She demanded. "Because it's absolute drivel."

Ruby gave her a frown, brows pulling together cutely over her liquid eyes. "Hey, this show is awesome! It seems like a kids show if you aren't paying attention, but they put a ton of stuff in for adults! Don't judge a book by it's cover, right? Just try it."

Weiss arched an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes, but eventually looked back at the screen. Well, for Ruby, she would give this a shot. Anything to sit this close.

* * *

"And the world's obviously the result of a nuclear holocaust! This show is fascinating!" Weiss raved, gesturing wildly. Ruby giggled, and Weiss abruptly stopped, a little blush creeping up her face. That had gotten a little out of hand... She cleared her throat heavily, looking away. "It was surprisingly tolerable." She said at last, staring down at her hands, twisting nervously in her lap.

"Aww come on!" Ruby whined, throwing an arm around her in a half-embrace. "Don't be like that! You liked it, admit it!"

Suddenly, both girls froze.

So close. Closer than ever. Ruby was breathing just a little heavy, a little excited from her outburst earlier.

Weiss swallowed hard. Closer... than she'd ever been...

Now. She should say something now. All the little touches, all the little jokes, everything over the past few months. And it had all come to this...

Weiss found she wouldn't pass it up for the world.

She leaned back on the couch, trying to get away, because this was all just too much, and Ruby followed, both arms around her now, both breathing hard, harder.

So close...

Ruby leaned closer, fully lying on top of her, and Weiss's legs were all tangled up with Ruby's, her worn out jeans rubbing on Weiss's bare legs.

She wasn't sure who moved forward first, if it was Ruby or her or both at the same time, she didn't care. Soft lips brushed up against hers, strawberry chapstick and mint mixing. It didn't taste good, but she definitely did.

And Weiss's heart was beating a thousand miles a minute, and they broke apart for just a second and crashed together again, again, again.

She was so beautiful.

So soft.

Her lips...

A strong hot tongue licked at her lips, a hand slid up her side, and Weiss gasped briefly, the tongue flicking into her mouth to dance with her own.

Warm, so warm, so hot, she was burning up...

Their tongues tangled softly, just licking at the tips, and Weiss needed more, she wanted to be closer. Her mouth opened wider, wider still, and it was like she was choking, like all she needed to breathe was Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. A leg pressed between hers, and she wrapped her arms around the other girl, pulling her closer.

Suddenly Ruby moved, falling off the couch with a thump. Her mouth was wide open, chest heaving, and there was a terrified look in her beautiful silver eyes.

"W-Weiss I..." She gulped, scrambling to her feet. "I can't do this. I have to go." She ran, ran for the door, and into the elevator beyond. And somehow, Weiss could only watch as she jammed the button on the elevator and darted inside. The doors slid closed, and Ruby had disappeared.

Had there been a tear on her face?

She was gone too fast to be sure.

Alone in her beautiful penthouse apartment, lying on her expensive couch, Weiss started to cry her eyes out.

The thing she treasured most in this world...

Had just been yanked away.

And for all her money, her beauty, her intelligence, there was no way for her to get it back.

She had never felt so helpless.

She had never felt so alone.

* * *

Well, sorry about this guys... I really wanted them to kiss, just once, but I also really wasn't in a good mood. This was the result. But yeah... my girlfriend like murdered my face trying to kiss me and now my lip got a big cut on it and it hurts... and I got rained on and I had to take a test... blech. I'm not in the best of moods.

So what time is it? Adventure Time.

As always, thanks to Wendy Crescent, because this chapter made noooo sense before she edited it.

No thanks to one of my friends who becomes a turtle when I ask him to do things... how hard is it to give me someone's Skype name! How hard!

(Turtles are slow is the point. And he's a jerk.)


	4. Kiss Me I Need You

Maybe people will be a little less mad after this chapter?

* * *

Ruby got back to her house about an hour later. She had ran as much of the way as she could, and her lungs were burning, ragged and dry and wheezing like an old pair of bellows. She stumbled in the door, dusty and sweaty. At least she had stopped crying...

"Shit, Rubes, what happened to you!" Yang exclaimed from their fluffy brown couch. It looked like she had been texting or something, but when she saw Ruby she dropped the cell phone and wrapped strong arms around her little sister.

"I screwed up..." Ruby mumbled, licking at her dry lips. "I screwed up so bad Yang..."

"Well, uh, sit down and... do you want anything to drink?" Yang offered weakly, her strong arms tense, a worried frown clouding her face.

_"Do you want anything to drink?" Weiss offered, throwing a look over her shoulder at Ruby, her white hair swishing perfectly around as she gazed at Ruby with those perfect blue eyes. _

Ruby broke into fresh sobs, and Yang held her as best she could, rocking back and forth.

"Shh. Shh. Hey, c'mon Rubes... talk to me, I'm worried here..."

"C-can I just have the water? Please?" Ruby sniffled, wiping her runny nose, the skin around it red and chapped, burning as her red sleeve swiped across it. She broke apart from her sister and slumped down on the couch, curling up around one ripped green pillows casually tossed on it.

"Yeah. Sure." Yang hurried to the kitchen and came back a second later with a cheap blue plastic cup, filled with lukewarm tapwater.

Ruby gulped at it eagerly, draining the cup in two seconds flat. "...Thanks..." She said quietly, huddling in on herself. She buried her face in the pillow, breathing it its comforting, musty smell.

"So, what happened." Yang demanded. Ruby heard a thump and felt the couch shift as her sister plopped down beside her. "I mean... you never get this upset, Rubes."

"...You really wanna know?" Ruby mumbled around a faceful of fluffy pillow.

"'Course I wanna know! I'm your sister! And besides... this is kinda freaking me out."

"Well um." Ruby licked her lips again, and still found them to be bone dry. "Could I have some more water first?"

"Yeah. Sure." Yang got up, and fetched some more. Ruby sat up and took small little sips, which turned into greedy slurps as she drained the glass.

"So..." Yang hinted, and Ruby took a deep breath.

"You know Weiss?"

"Um, yeah. Rich girl you hang out with, right?"

She's so much more than that...

"I kissed her."

"About damn time!"

"Wait what!" Ruby shrieked, dropping her glass onto the stained carpet floor. "H-how did you-"

"Sis, you are like, the gayest person I know. Seriously, other than the time you dated that Jaune guy..."

"Hey now! Jaune's a good friend!" Ruby protested. "Don't always talk about him like that!"

"Fine, fine... but seriously, I've been expecting this talk for like, years." Yang ruffled her hair affectionately. "So, then, what's the big sob fest for? You smooched the hot chick, right?"

Ruby looked down glumly. "It isn't that simple I... it was kinda one sided... I mostly just kissed her." Yang started to talk, but Ruby cut her off, continuing on in a quiet little voice. "I don't think she was kissing me back... I basically just attacked her, Yang! She probably hates me now... and even if she wasn't totally against it, I couldn't date her I just..." Fresh tears began to fall again, though where they came from Ruby didn't know.

"Are you sure?" Yang asked quietly, like she was soothing a frightened animal. "You... well, you assume the worst a lot Rubes. Are you sure you just jumped her?"

"Well, even if I didn't it doesn't matter. They talk about us." Ruby sniffled. "The other students. I hear what they say and... her parents could never approve and... she's just so, so above me Yang. Nobody she knows would ever be okay with her dating a nobody like me..."

"Ruby-!" Yang started to protest, to tell her she was wrong or something. Ruby didn't care. She knew she was right. Weiss probably hated her... no, Weiss definitely did.

So Ruby ignored her sister, wiping her tear stained cheeks and shuffling off for her room. "I'm going to bed, Yang." Was all she said, shutting the door behind her.

Sleep did not come easy. But when it did, it was deep, and thankfully empty.

* * *

Weiss stood expectantly by the gate, eyes scanning the street. Where was Ruby? She had to be here today, she had to! There was so much Weiss needed to say...

The minutes ticked by, then the hour. The bell chimed for the start of classes, and with many backwards glances, Weiss had to walk away.

It seemed that Ruby wasn't at school.

She didn't know what that meant... but Weiss couldn't imagine it was anything good. But, Weiss could help in her own small way. As a favor, she decided to take two sets of notes for when the other girl returned. That way, she could give the extra set to Ruby, and the other girl wouldn't fall behind in her classes... assuming she showed up soon.

She had to.

She had to be back.

* * *

The next morning, Weiss was disappointed yet again. Some fearful part of her was worried sick, and the rest of her couldn't argue.

* * *

She still hadn't shown up...

* * *

On the morning of the fourth day, Weiss caught a glimpse of something she had been aching to see, a black and yellow motorcycle rumbling for the school.

As it approached, however, she frowned. There was only that taller girl... Ruby's sister, who drove her to school every day. Ruby wasn't on the back. She was missing.

A sudden thought struck her. Ruby had just left her apartment without any way of getting home... what if she had gotten hit by a car on the way home? Or was sick, or...

Before she knew it, Weiss was moving as fast as she could for the approaching bike, her heels almost causing her to fall as she jogged along the payment.

The rider took off her helmet, and a cascade of messy golden curls tumbled free. Ruby's sister waved Weiss over.

"Are you Weiss?" She asked, when Weiss was close enough.

"Yes, I am." Weiss replied. "Please, can you tell me where Ruby is? I need to speak with her, urgently."

"I can do you one better." Ruby's sister... Yang, that was her name, Yang patted the back of the bike, the other hand extending a rosy red helmet. "As long as you aren't gonna be shitty to her, I'll take you to her." There was something hard and fierce in those lilac eyes, like fire. Yang didn't need to make any threats, she conveyed perfectly well that if Weiss wasn't going to be on her best behaviour, Yang would end her.

Without hesitation, Weiss nodded. Normally, there was no way she'd get on such an unsafe contraption. But for Ruby, she would have to. "Then drive." And with that, she climbed on the bike, pulling the helmet over her face, a name blazing in her mind like a bolt of lightning against the night sky.

Ruby.

* * *

Yang drove dangerously fast, even going so far as to run a red light on the way back. They pulled up in front of a dilapidated old apartment building, chipped green paint flaking off the three story block of a structure.

Weiss immediately climbed off the bike, rushing for it, Yang close at her heels.

They went inside, but paused outside a little whitewashed door with a brass number one on it, the first set of rooms in the building. "She's in her room, it's the door on the far right when you walk in." Yang said quickly, quietly. "I'll hang around somewhere else, but I swear if you do anything-"

"I won't." Weiss said, no malice in her voice. She knew she would be acting the same way, if their positions were reversed. And besides, all she needed to do right now was make sure Ruby was okay.

With a quick motion, Yang unlocked the door, gave Weiss one brief look, and then headed back out of the building.

Weiss took a deep breath, and pushed the door open, stepping in.

The place was a mess. The furniture was old, broken, and possibly slightly moldy. Used dishes cluttered every available surface, and it was impossible to tell what color the carpet had been, it was so stained and ripped and faded.

But none of that mattered.

It was the door all the way to the right.

Weiss strode over to it, seized the doorknob, and turned, the door swinging open.

There, lying curled around her pillow, was Ruby. Her face was bright red and splotchy from crying, and she looked pale, paler than usual, an absolute mess.

It broke Weiss's heart to know that somehow, she was responsible for this.

"Weiss!" Ruby gasped.

* * *

"_Weiss!"_

Ruby couldn't believe it.

Weiss was standing in her doorway.

She was right there.

But for some reason, Ruby couldn't move. She couldn't do anything but stare as slowly, Weiss came closer, stepping over the dirty laundry and cups and plates that littered the floor, to kneel beside her bed. Her pale blue skirt brushed the floor, and the end of her form fitting hoodie she was wearing trailed on the ground as she just sat and looked at Ruby, something unreadable in her beautiful blue eyes.

Ruby had gotten her that hoodie, when they went shopping a couple weeks ago. It had looked so good on her and Ruby had insisted she buy it, pestering the other girl until, with a huff and a grouchy remark, she did.

Those moments were likely gone forever. She didn't even know why Weiss was bothering to visit...

"W-Weiss I-" Ruby stammered, then cleared her throat, so very grateful she wasn't crying. Well, yet anyway. "Why are you here?" She finally said in a small, small voice.

"...I took notes for you." Weiss said, her voice equally soft. "Since you missed class."

"T-that was n-nice of you..." Ruby replied. Maybe... maybe she had a chance to salvage the friendship at least. Maybe... if Weiss had taken notes for her...

"I'm worried about you, Ruby." Weiss told her. "You haven't been at school. And... I still don't know what happened... earlier."

Ruby closed her eyes. There it was. This was it. Weiss seemed so disappointed and hurt and this was why... "I'm sorry." She said. Might as well face the music... "I'm sorry I kissed you. I know you didn't want to, because, you know, you weren't moving or anything you just seemed kind of shocked..." Ruby coughed, her voice catching as she kept on. "A-and I hear what p-people... what people say about us, and I'm sorry. I'll change schools, I'll leave, so maybe you can be happy and maybe I can too and..." All of a sudden the words dried up, and Ruby couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. She lay there, eyes screwed shut, quaking under her covers.

A minute passed. Two.

Ruby finally opened her eyes, to see Weiss crying.

The other girl's head was bowed, and her shoulders were shaking slightly, little drops of water - like diamonds - falling into her lap.

"W-Weiss?" Ruby was panicking, something was wrong, Weiss didn't cry Weiss-

Suddenly the other girl moved, slapping her. A small burst of pain spread across her cheek, and she stared in shock as Weiss looked up at her, furious.

"Idiot!" She seized Ruby by the shoulders, shaking her. "Why would you-" She paused, a small sob interrupting her. "I don't want you gone! I want-"

And suddenly Weiss pulled on Ruby's shoulders, yanking her forward, crashing their lips together. Their lips met so hard and rough that Ruby bit her lip, hot blood flowing into her mouth as she whimpered into the kiss, clutching at Weiss's clothing, trying to pull her closer, sucking at her tongue and pressing into her chest and...

They broke apart for a short second, panting and gasping and then Weiss moved forwards again, pushing Ruby back on the bed, lying atop her, blue eyes darkening as their lips fused again, tongues dancing in time, frantic, like this was the last touch they would ever have, like if they broke apart they could never be together again.

Their legs entwined, their arms bound them together, until it was just the two of them crying, or laughing, into eachother and rocking back and forth.

Ruby was shaking, whimpering. "Weiss... oh Weiss..."

Weiss held her, one hand on her back of her neck, one tangled in her black and red hair, greasy from lack of showers.

"I'm here." She said simply. "Shh... I'm here."

Blue eyes met silver as Ruby pulled back a little bit to look at her. "So are we... I mean..." She buried her face in Weiss's chest. "I love you."

Three little words. Ruby waited, heart beating wildly, for an answer.

"I love you too."

"So are we... are we dating?" Ruby asked, her voice muffled by Weiss's hoodie.

"Yes, you dolt, we're dating." Weiss replied, a hint of sarcasm and a lot of affection lacing her tone.

"Oh. Good." Ruby paused. "Um, just do me one favor?"

"Hmm?"

"No pinching. I'm pretty sure I'm just having a really good dream so-" Suddenly, Ruby yelped, a sharp stinging pain lancing through her side as Weiss squeezed a little bit of skin between thumb and forefinger. "Gah! I said don't!"

"You aren't dreaming." Weiss told her drily. "Just relax."

"Okay."

They lay like that until morning. And for just a few hours, there was no school, no company, no sister or family or anything else. It was like they were the only two people in the world, whispering quietly to eachother until, first Ruby then Weiss, they fell asleep.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"So much."

"So much it hurts."

* * *

Yes, it was intentional not to say who was saying what at the end there. I like it that way.

As always, thanks so much to Wendy Crescent.

And, just in case you were wondering, it is possible to kiss someone so hard you make them bite their lip and bleed. I have personal experience with these matters, and it isn't exactly all that fun. Please don't actually try it.

Written to Diamonds, by Rihanna, and Paralyzer, by Finger Eleven.


	5. A Harsh Interruption

**PLEASE READ THIS GUYS! REALLY!**

So, first off, trigger warnings for domestic violence/abuse. Now that that's out of the way, you guys can just start reading.

For anyone who cares to keep reading this, this is what I meant when I said I want this fic to deal with some of my personal issues. I think it's a shame that people who write really gay fics don't bother to talk about the issues of being some flavor of LGBTQ except for "some people don't like gay people and that's sad." I tried to do some more complex stuff too, and I hope it turned out well.

And don't worry, there's fluff and stuff too!

* * *

"Ruby..." Weiss mumbled, her voice still hazy and bleary from sleep.

No answer. Ruby was dead asleep, hair cutely strewn over her face as she breathed deep, steady breaths.

Unfortunately, she was also lying directly on top of Weiss.

"Ruby!"

Still no reply. Weiss was even considering just letting her stay there a bit longer, but then she noticed the little trail of drool hanging off of Ruby's lip.

That did it.

For the second time in the past few hours, Weiss gave Ruby a sharp, vicious pinch.

"Ow!" Ruby shrieked, wide awake. She fell off the bed with a thump, and, fortunately, off of Weiss, hitting her head on the frame on the way down.

"You were drooling in your sleep! On me!" Weiss snapped.

Ruby rubbed her aching head. "Geez, sorry princess... I guess I was, you know, asleep!"

"It's still disgusting." Weiss huffed.

"Yeah, yeah... so..." Ruby rubbed sleepily at her eyes and yawned. "It's a Saturday morning and I'm hungry. So uh, yeah I'll be in the kitchen. Um. Do you want anything?"

"Whatever you have is fine." Weiss replied. "Though, if you don't mind, I do need some clothes." She wrinkled her nose. "I wore these all yesterday and last night, and they have your spit on them."

"Mhmm. Yeah. Um, dresser over there. I'm getting food now..." Ruby shambled off, leaving Weiss alone in her room.

Weiss just shook her head. Ruby was not a morning person in the slightest...

Well, time to find some clothes, at least.

Weiss stood, smoothed her skirt, and crossed to the unvarnished wooden dresser. She pulled out the top drawer, eyeing the rough wood suspiciously and taking care to avoid splinters. Well... there were clothes in here at least.

Weiss had to let out a sigh at the state of Ruby's dresser. Everything had just been thrown in there, with no regard for folding it or organizing it. The top layer seemed to consist of three tank tops, a pair of sweatpants with a hole in one knee, three mismatched socks, and a pair of bright pink boy shirts that very nearly made Weiss turn the same color just looking at them. They were about as modest as underwear could get, but still.

Some things simply weren't appropriate.

Sighing, Weiss began to rummage through, and by the time she had found a pair of pale red pajama pants and a bright yellow t-shirt with a cartoon waterfowl and the words "shut the duck up" on it, she'd also had time to fold and organize the drawer. She looked down to assess whether or not the outfit was appropriate, and sighed again.

Nothing Ruby owned would look even vaguely tolerable on her. It was simply a fact of life. She needed to get that girl some new clothes...

Weiss walked out of the room, tip toeing around the mess on the carpet, and heading for the smell of food.

She really wished she hadn't.

Ruby was sitting at the table, still wearing the tank top and pajama pants she'd had on the night before, sipping at a cracked glass filled with milk. That was normal, that was okay.

What was a little more on the traumatizing side of things was her sister, prancing back and forth at the stove in her lacy black underwear, head bopping as she sang along to something that could only be vaguely called music. It blared out of a little iPod hooked up to a cheap pair of portable speakers that sat on the counter, butchering the already awful music with their terrible quality.

"Stop calling stop calling I don't wanna - Hey Weiss!" Yang chirped, still swaying back and forth to the tune. "Bacon in ten. I went shopping, so we have real food! I mean, Ruby got a girl to sleep with her, finally, so I thought we could cele-"

"What is wrong with you!" Weiss shrieked, absolutely mortified and blushing hot enough to catch fire. "Put on some clothes! And Ruby and I weren't sleeping together like that!"

Ruby, still sipping her milk, winced. "Weiss... it's too early to be that loud..."

"At least turn the music down." Weiss muttered.

Yang shot her a huge grin over her shoulder, seeming expectant. "What do we say when we want something?"

"Fine, please, just turn it down!" Yang seemed a little slow, so Weiss barked, "Now, Yang!"

"We need a volume control for you, princess. I mean geez! Chill your tits!"

"Yang. Don't antagonize my girlfriend." Ruby mumbled, and the two bickering girls abruptly turned to stare at her.

"Wait, girlfriend? It's official?" Yang asked.

Weiss, meanwhile, was finding it hard to say much of anything, except a few sputtering, choked noises. Did Ruby just... say that? Right out loud and... well, only in front of Yang. Still, it was a shock. Weiss had never dated before, and the warm glow she felt when Ruby said 'girlfriend' was something she'd never felt before.

"Mmph. Yeah. And Yang?"

"Huh?"

"Put on some clothes, please. I know I've seen your boobs, but I don't think Weiss wants to."

Ruby was also a lot more blunt when she was tired.

"Fine, fine. Welp, bacon's ready anyway. I'll be right back." Yang strolled out of the kitchen, a little swing in her hips. Weiss glared at her, and Yang gave her a saucy wink in return.

"Like what you see?" She said, her voice teasing and exaggeratedly flirty.

Then she was gone, heading for one of the other rooms and whistling loudly.

Weiss was very swiftly getting to the end of her rope with that woman.

But instead of getting mad, she went over to the stove, using Yang's spatula to gingerly scoop up some of the fatty pork strips in the pan. She'd never had bacon, and it looked suspicious, but she figured Ruby desperately needed some food, what with the way she was acting. And maybe a bit more sleep... waking her up might not have been the best idea...

"Where are the plates, Ruby?" She asked over her shoulder.

"Uh, they should be in the cupboard to the right of the stove. Use the paper ones... they won't be gross."

"Oh come now." Weiss said, reaching in and pulling down a thick ceramic dish. "They can't be..."

Her finger brushed over some sort of crusted, baked on smear of nastiness, and she shoved it back in with a clatter. "...Nevermind. We're eating off the paper ones, and you really need to do dishes. Again."

Weiss served Ruby first, grudgingly added a plate for Yang, and finally served herself. She was just about to come over with food when she spied an open package on the counter. "Why is there smoked salmon on the counter?" Weiss asked curiously.

"Ah, that's Blake's. She brings it so she'll have something to eat in the mornings." Ruby replied, between a mouthful of crunchy bacon. "C'mon, sit down. It's really good!" Her voice was already a bit perkier, and she wasn't slouching as much in her chair.

"Who's Blake?" Weiss said, slipping into a chair next to Ruby. The leg wobbled, but she was fairly certain it wouldn't crack under her. She hoped.

"Yang's girlfriend." Ruby watched as Weiss eyed a piece of bacon. "Um, are you gonna eat that?"

Without replying, Weiss took a dainty bite, her mouth exploding with grease and salt. She coughed, barely choking it down, the meaty, oily aftertaste clinging to her tongue. "That's awful!" She sputtered. "How can you eat that stuff!"

Ruby pulled her plate over, unceremoniously dumping it onto her own. "Like this! And now, more for me!" She cheered. It was amazing how much perkier she seemed already, after just a little food.

Just then, a new person came into the room, looking like the female version of 'tall dark and handsome.' She had long, dark hair, with a slight curl to it that gave it gorgeous waves. A little black bow perched atop her head, and her body was wrapped up by a long grey bathrobe. She sat down opposite Ruby at the small table.

"Good morning." She said softly, her amber eyes blinking slightly. She gave Weiss a heavy lidded look. "Weiss Schnee, isn't it? My name is Blake Belladonna, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Weiss dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement. "It's very nice to meet you." She already rather liked this girl. Well spoken, polite, and wonderfully modest. It was a nice change from Yang. She couldn't believe the two were together, Blake didn't seem anything like Yang's type.

Then, the brute came back in.

Her golden curls bouncing, and somewhat covered by a short sleeved women's dress shirt, Yang strode into the room. She bent a little as she passed Blake, pinching her butt, and took her own seat, beginning the messy process of demolishing her bacon.

Weiss was scandalized. Had she just... done that to Blake? A quick look at the other girl didn't reveal the slightest change in expression. Well... that was... interesting...

Maybe they were a perfect fit after all. If Blake could put up with Yang's rudeness like that, maybe she could actually tolerate the blonde. After all, there had to be redeeming qualities in there somewhere.

Weiss watched curiously as Blake's eyes flicked over at the counter, and Yang started in her seat. "Mmph! Salmon! Right!"

Of course, her mouth was full, so it was a lot less intelligible than that. It sounded more like 'Shalmon! Fright!'

Yang scurried over to the counter, scraped the salmon onto a plate with a fork, and gently set it in front of Blake, who smiled faintly and started taking quick, dainty bites, seeming to be in a rush to finish yet wanting to savor her food at the same time.

It was a very different side to Ruby's sister, and Weiss filed it away for later.

The meal was eaten in relative silence, until Ruby finished, wiping grease off her chin with the back of a hand. She broke the silence, her voice hesitant and questioning. "So uh, Weiss, what do you want to do? I mean... it's the weekend..."

"I don't quite know. I'm fairly caught up on my work, so I can spare some time." Weiss replied thoughtfully. "Though, I'd say you need to invest some time to catch back up. You didn't miss many concepts, though you probably need to go over them for at least ten hours to achieve any kind of mastery."

Yang blew a loud raspberry. "Ah, c'mon. You guys oughta do something fun!"

Weiss turned an ice cold glare on her. "The week before finals is a terrible time to slack off. Don't encourage her to do anything stupid."

"Well, was it new stuff, or review?" Ruby asked. "Because, I know most of them said that was all the last week was gonna be..."

Weiss frowned. "Yes, but that's no excuse."

Ruby waved a hand. "I'll get it done, but if it's nothing new, I know the stuff pretty well. I mean, I got a perfect score on all my midterms. I should do pretty well..."

"Still, Ruby - " Weiss started to say. Yang cut her off.

"Hey, princess, cool it, will you? I mean, can you take the stick of your ass long enough to do something with your girlfriend, that you just hooked up with today? Special first day and all, you know?"

Without further ado, Weiss threw Ruby's greasy plate at Yang. It hit her square in the face, flipped over, and landed square on her head. "How dare you!" Weiss yelled, furious and not sure what to be angry about first. "I'm trying to look out for her so she doesn't fail out of school! Do you know how much the teachers will likely judge her, just because she didn't pay to get in?"

Yang's eyes were wide, and Weiss repeated her accusation. "Do you?"

All of a sudden, Ruby's arms were around her, clinging to her while Weiss stood shaking with fury. "Yang, Weiss, please calm down!" Ruby begged, her huge silver eyes pleading. "Please, I don't want you to fight. Please?"

There was something desperate in those eyes, and Weiss realized Ruby might not be entirely recovered from her ordeal earlier. They had only been together for a day... she was probably still terrified Weiss didn't care about her. And added to that, she was fighting with her sister, who she'd need to get along with if any kind of relationship with Ruby was going to work.

Suddenly, she felt like an absolute ass, and sagged into Ruby's arms. "...I'm sorry." She mumbled.

Across the table, Blake was pulling Yang back by the arm, hissing into her ear with amber eyes narrowed. Yang looked ever worse than Weiss, a stricken expression on her face like she'd been shot.

"Sorry." The blonde mumbled as she was led out of the room by her girlfriend.

Weiss looked at Ruby, looking for the right thing to say. She settled on a soft "I am too." just before Yang got out of earshot. Then she was alone with Ruby in the tiny room. "Ruby..."

And Ruby was crying. Weiss held her gently, swaying a little while her girlfriend sniffled a bit, her tears soaking silently into Weiss's shirt.

Ruby's sniffles slowly died away. "I just want you guys to get along..." She said quietly.

"I know." Weiss whispered. "I know, and I promise I'll try to be kinder to her. I just... have a bit of a temper..."

They stood for a few more minutes, and Weiss could not help but think about Yang's words. Maybe she was being too hard on Ruby.

"...Do you want to go out somewhere, Ruby?" She asked quietly.

"Mhmm. I really do. Is that okay?" Ruby replied equally soft, her words hesitant. She was trying so hard to make Weiss happy, and it almost broke her heart.

"If you really did that well on all your midterms, then of course." Weiss paused to swallow. "Though... do you have anything better in your dresser? I can't go out like this..."

Ruby stepped back a bit, giving Weiss a little smile. "I think so. Just gimme a sec, okay? I needa change too."

Twenty minutes later, Weiss was feeling better. Much better actually, especially considering she'd had time for a shower. And, as it turned out, that one day she'd loaned Ruby an outfit, the other girl had never returned it. Given how convenient it ended up being, she decided not to be mad and count her blessings.

It was a little wrinkled, but she decided she could live with that. She stepped inside the skirt, and her head bumped against the wall of the bathroom she was changing in.

How did Ruby manage with such little space? It was absurd! Now she knew why Ruby had been so amazed at the size of her own apartment.

A few moments later she came out, her hair looking as well as it possibly could given the circumstances, and her outfit at least presentable. Ruby had been hanging around the bathroom door, thumbs hooked into the belt loops of her ratty jeans.

"So uh, where do you wanna go?" She asked, cocking her head a little in a way that Weiss found adorable, her long bangs drifting to the side.

"I don't particularly care." Weiss replied. "Though we shouldn't be gone for more than an hour or two. You really do need to study."

Ruby smiled, a little sad, a little affectionate. "Yeah. I know. Still, we got a bit, so we can have some fun."

"Well, where would you like to go?" Weiss asked, retrieving her dirty clothes and putting them in a plastic grocery bag, to be washed at her apartment later.

Ruby shrugged. "There's movies near here... um, and... well actually that's the only thing you might like." She bit her lip and looked down.

"A movie sounds nice." Weiss said gently. "Is there anything you'd like to see?"

"Uh, a ton of stuff actually... there's a bunch of superhero movies out lately..." Ruby said slowly, carefully watching Weiss's expression to see her opinion.

"I... confess I've never seen any of those." Weiss replied. "I would be willing to try one." Privately, she was reflecting that she hardly knew what a 'superhero' was. However, people seemed to like them, so why not?

They started outside, Ruby shyly slipping her hand into Weiss's, the other girl hesitating a moment before taking it with a gentle squeeze.

The moment was perfect.

And abruptly it shattered with a high, clear scream from the apartment upstairs, and the sound of something breaking. A deep, male voice shouted something indistinguishable and angry, a slamming door punctuating the sound.

Weiss's head whipped around to the noise, but Ruby wasn't hesitating, already running up the stairs, taking them two at a time to their upstairs neighbor's apartment. An instant later Weiss was at her heels, and they were both up at the top. Ruby tried the handle, and finding it open, they both burst in the door.

It was dim inside the apartment, shadows playing across the eerily silent rooms.

And sprawled across the floor was a girl, something dark and sticky oozing from her head, and the broken pieces of an expensive looking mug coating the floor.

Weiss immediately took charge of the situation. "Ruby, call 911." She commanded, picking her way around the broken bits, getting to the girl's side. Some of her clothes were torn, ripped at like someone had tried to pull them off her body, and her long, pale blonde hair was sticky and matted with blood.

Quickly, Weiss found her injury, a large gash along her forehead, and pressed a gentle finger to it, checking for any damage to the skull. She breathed a sigh of relief, not feeling anything out of the ordinary. Permanent damage was unlikely, and a concussion should be the worst of her problems. She would wake up. She would be fine.

Weiss took a piece of cloth, a torn bit of the girl's shirt, and tied it securely around her head, making sure it was pressing on hard enough to limit the blood flow. For safety's sake, she leaned over her and applied pressure to the girl's forehead with both hands. The pool of blood oozed around her designer sneakers, and soaked into her skirt, staining it a deep, dark red.

"Yes, apartment two, second floor. Please, hurry." Ruby finished saying, the only sound in the quiet room. Then she knelt down next to Weiss, staring worriedly down.

"Do you know her?" Weiss found herself asking. When she and Ruby said they were going to go out, this wasn't exactly what she had expected. It made her sick, seeing someone like this. Sick and scared and worried. Weiss had heard a second voice in the apartment, after that scream. Someone had done this to her. Weiss had always hated how cruel people could be to eachother, how easy it was for one person to hurt and abuse another. Maybe it was her own experiences with her father, maybe she just had a strong sense of morality, but she found it unacceptable.

Weiss wanted to kill whoever it was who did this.

"Yeah. I do. Her name's Eleanor... she's our neighbor. We see her a bunch I..." Ruby's tears dripped down, splashing onto the floor. "She makes tea. She has all these beautiful mugs and she loves to make tea and..."

"Ruby, she's going to be fine." Weiss said, calmly stating a fact. "I've gotten the bleeding under control, her skull is intact, and the worst she will likely wake up to is a concussion. We just need to stay with her."

Ruby's head leaned on her shoulder, and they sat there like that until sirens sounded outside.

Two men in black and green uniforms rushed in with a portable stretcher, lifting Eleanor up onto it and rushing downstairs. A pair of policemen were close at their heels, and one of them, a short, pudgy man with scraggly peach fuzz on his cheeks and a mole on his upper lip looked Weiss and Ruby up and down. "You the girls who called this in?" He asked, voice friendly and warm.

"Y-yes sir." Ruby stammered.

"Did either of you see what happened?" He asked, pulling out a notepad.

"No." Weiss replied. "We heard two voices in the apartment, one likely belonging to an attacker. Whoever it was, though, they were gone by the time we got in." Weiss paused a moment. "May we come stay in her hospital room?"

"Sure. Actually, I was gonna ask the two of you to come down to the station, but that works too. I can talk to you there." The cop said, slipping the notebook back into a pocket. "Just drive on down, and I'll see you there."

Weiss nodded, and thanked him. Then she turned to Ruby. "Let's get your study materials and then I'll call us a taxi. We can be there in twenty minutes."

* * *

Weiss hated hospitals.

This one, like all the rest, was cold and white, smelling of chemicals and cloyingly sweet medicine. Children cried in the background, and worried family members talked quietly with the nurses.

A friendly woman in pink scrubs showed them to Eleanor's room. To Weiss's relief, when they opened the door she was sitting up, calmly talking to the police officer who was at her apartment. A mess of bandages were wrapped all around her head, but other than that, she seemed fine.

"You're okay!" Ruby cheered, a little teary eyed, and rushed over to the bed, arms out for a hug. Laughing, Eleanor wrapped her arms around the younger girl.

"It's rather nice to see you too, Ruby." She said, her voice a little weak. It was on the deeper end of feminine, but warm and strong, and Weiss felt a rush of relief at how surprisingly good she sounded, given how bad off she'd been just thirty minutes earlier.

"Oh! Um, Weiss, this is Eleanor. Eleanor, Weiss. Weiss, Eleanor... okay you probably get it by now..." Ruby said, stumbling away from the hug and indicating the girl on the bed with a sweep of her arms.

"It's very nice to meet you." Eleanor said, a little grin on her face. "I understand you were very helpful in stopping my head from leaking all over my nice clean floor. Thank you very much, I'd hate to spend hours mopping the place."

Weiss's eyebrows arched. Was she really joking about a serious head injury? "I... suppose. And you're very welcome."

"Anyway, I was just about to give the officers my statement, but if you two wish to stick around, be my guest." With a grin, she indicated the tiny room. "What's mine is yours."

Weiss and Ruby seated themselves near the bed, listening closely as Eleanor began her story.

"I was at home, with this guy. He was taking me home after a date earlier; we had gotten a nice breakfast at a nearby cafe. The Ox and Rabbit. So when we got to my apartment, one thing led to another... he was kinda... groping at me. And, well, I think he found something he wasn't expecting." Eleanor's face flushed bright red, and she went quiet, staring at her hands.

"What do you mean, ma'am?" The officer asked.

Eleanor took a deep breath. "I'm transsexual. And have some... parts some girls don't have. He, apparently, didn't much approve of that." Her voice was soft, her eyes downcast.

Weiss's eyes opened wide. From an academic standpoint, she knew such people existed, people who didn't feel the gender they were born with fit who they were. But in her mind, she thought it would be easy to tell. Eleanor... well, she looked like any other girl. In fact, she was really quite pretty. Quickly, Weiss glanced around the room, checking to see everyone else's reaction. Ruby didn't look surprised, but the policeman...

The policeman flushed bright red, his thick eyebrows knitting together. Then, very deliberately, he stood, closing his notebook. "Thank you for your statement, sir." He said, spitting the last word. Then he made to walk out of the room.

Weiss abruptly felt a surge of anger.

How.

Dare.

He.

She was not going to tolerate his judgemental bullshit.

"You are going to turn around and finish taking her statement, right now." Weiss growled, furiously angry. She stood up, fists literally shaking with rage.

He kept walking away.

"Or you are going to explain to Commissioner Port why you lost the annual $400,000 donation from the Schnee family." Weiss finished, her voice dangerous and steel-edged.

That got him to come back fast. Without another word, he sat back down, pulling out the notebook with an angry jerk.

"Please, sir, finish." He grumbled.

"Use her proper pronouns." Weiss ground out.

The officer nodded stiffly, and Eleanor finished her story. Honestly, there wasn't much left to tell. There had been a fight, he'd thrown a mug, and obviously left. She gave the officer the man's name, phone number, and described his car. When she finished, he got up like the chair was on fire, stuffing the notebook into his back pocket and hurrying to leave, shooting nervous glances at Weiss as he headed out, probably worrying that she wasn't done with him yet.

And as it turns out, she wasn't. Just before he got out the door, Weiss added "I will be calling the Commissioner later today, to check and see if your report has been misplaced. So ensure that it isn't." She told him coldly. "You may leave now."

He did so, footsteps quick on the tile floor. Weiss slammed the door shut behind him. Then, still glaring furiously, she returned to her chair.

"Ruby, where did you find her." Eleanor asked. "And by any chance, does she have any siblings that are as kickass as she is?"

"I'm pretty sure she's one of a kind." Ruby said fondly, laying her head on Weiss's shoulder.

"Ah. Shame." Eleanor replied. "Well, you know, seems I'm single again so I figured I ought to ask."

Ruby tangled her fingers in Weiss's hair, leaning in close to her. She turned silver eyes on Eleanor, her gaze questioning. "How are you so relaxed about all this? I mean... I know I'd be freaking out..."

Eleanor shrugged. "Well, mostly because I'm going to be okay." A sad look came over her, hands bunching in the sheets. "Mostly, I just feel sorry for my... well, my ex boyfriend. I mean, he's obviously a jerk but... I just wish people weren't so scared all the time."

There was silence in the room for a little bit, before Eleanor broke it with a laugh.

"Though you know what the worst part about all this is?" She said, a little secret grin on her lips.

"The bastard broke my favorite mug."

* * *

*long sigh*

Okay.

That's written. I really need to sleep now...

Wendy Crescent is, as usual, an incredible person. Seriously, something really stressful happened to her and she didn't lose a positive attitude. For anyone reading this, please send her a nice message, she deserves it.


End file.
